Taylor's prison term 'a joke'

The father of one of Daniel Luke Taylor's victims had described the Kaitaia man's prison term of five years and 10 months as a joke, family spokesman Charles Hohaia said last week, and that reflected the general consensus.

Taylor's victims would have to live with what he had done to them for a long time, Mr Hohaia said, and they were not coping well. One had stopped going to school, and while some were "getting on" as best they could, others were abusing drugs or alcohol.

There was no saying that even those who were coping would not face issues in the future, he added.

He had the highest praise for the courage shown by the boys in coming forward, re-living the trauma of what they had experienced to ensure that justice was done.

Neither they nor their families accepted 34-year-old Taylor's expression of remorse.

"If he was truly remorseful he would have discontinued this behaviour some time ago," he said.

"These people don't seem to show remorse until they are caught."

Meanwhile it was the police hotline set up to investigate now convicted paedophile James Parker that led to Taylor's arrest, a fellow member of the Church of Latter Day Saints in Kaitaia using it to report Taylor's sexual abuse of boys.

That culminated in last week's Whangarei High Court sentence of five years and 10 months on eight convictions of indecent assault and one of attempted sexual connection against boys, including three brothers, over a five-year period. Taylor must serve at least 34 months before he will be eligible for parole.

At the time of his arrest Taylor was a CYF-approved caregiver, one of his victims having been placed in his care.

LDS church member Anahera Herbert-Graves, who claimed Taylor's actions became the subject of jokes among youths for many months before church officials formally discussed the issue, said the wasn't "very punitive".

"Taylor's sexuality and interest in young boys had been a concern for some time before he was spoken to and charged by the police, but he kept being called to positions in the church where he'd have more access to boys," she added.

About a dozen people, including victims, their families and supporters, attended the sentencing, a man in the public gallery shouting profanities at Taylor as he was escorted out. A father and his two children left the court crying while the victim impact statements were being read out.

One of the boys said Taylor's persistent offending put him off going to church because he didn't want to see him. Another said he felt confused and disgusted, knowing Taylor taught the word of God, yet he did things that weren't right.

"At times I felt a sense of guilt, which I now know has no place in my mind because I am not to be blamed for what he did to me," he said.