Binge drinking left girl vulnerable, judge says

A judge who today sentenced a 36-year-old man to two years in prison for having sex with a 14-year-old girl said the girl was "partly the author of her own misfortune".

Christchurch District Court Judge Stephen Erber said the girl was drunk and flirtatious when Shane Murray Gare gave her cannabis to induce her to have sex.

He said the behaviour of the girl - who was out with two or three friends in Ashburton - was an example of juvenile binge drinking.

"They were silly, vulnerable and very drunk and the major complainant was clearly flirtatious," he said.

"This girl was partly the author of her own misfortune. She managed to get herself drunk.

"She was clearly making up to other men, or boys. This is a clear example of juvenile binge drinking.

"It has had considerable impact on the family and the girl. She's been targeted at school. She is in low spirits, and has low self-esteem."

After Gare met the group, one of them became ill and he helped put her in the recovery position.

He gave cannabis to two of them, and Judge Erber said it was clear he did this to better ensure "there might be some sexual adventure".

He then followed the pair and had sex with one of them in a garden area.

"And having had intercourse with her, you abandoned her and she wandered around and was taken in by a householder. You were 35 at the time, she was 14."

The Ashburton timber worker was put on trial in Timaru.

He admitted giving the girls cannabis, but he denied a charge of rape and the jury could not reach a verdict. Before the retrial, he pleaded guilty to the alternative charge of having sex with a girl under 16.

Crown prosecutor Ian Murray said it was serious offending requiring a deterrent sentence.

Defence counsel Bridget Ayrey said Gare had been making substantial progress in his life and she asked the judge to grant leave to apply for home detention.

She said the offending had come from a lack of foresight and forethought, and was a gross error of judgment.

"I am asking you to see it as opportunistic rather than predatory offending."

"They are not mutually exclusive," said Judge Erber, refusing leave for home detention.

- NZPA