Kerry Charles Ratana admitted killing Sahara Baker-Koro. Photo / APN
A man who sexually assaulted and killed his 5-year-old stepdaughter five days before Christmas in 2010 will stay in prison for the foreseeable future after turning down his latest chance at parole.
Sahara Jayde Baker-Koro was found dead in her bed at her Napier home on December 21, 2010.
Her mother had been at work the night before, leaving Sahara and her siblings in the care of her partner Kerry Charles Ratana.
After finding Sahara, her mother confronted Ratana and asked what he had done.
She claimed Ratana replied: “I’m sorry, I love you, I raped her.”
She called the police.
Ratana soon confessed to having killed Sahara by pressing down forcefully on her chest.
He told police Sahara was “playing up, crying and stuff” and he wanted her to be quiet and “just lost the plot”.
After the child lost consciousness, Ratana tried CPR but she never woke up.
Ratana panicked but did not call for help.
Initially, and for a long time after, he denied saying he raped Sahara or sexually assaulted her.
A post-mortem confirmed Sahara died as a result of a rupture of the right atrium of the heart caused by rapid compressive force.
There was also evidence of sexual violation. The medical evidence was that the injuries observed would have caused Sahara severe pain.
Ratana later admitted a charge of manslaughter.
Despite his denials, he was found guilty at a second trial of sexual violation by unlawful sexual connection with a child aged under 12 years.
In April 2012, Ratana was sentenced to 16 years and six months in jail.
In 2021, more than a decade after the brutal killing, Ratana admitted to a prison psychologist that he had sexually assaulted Sahara.
The psychologist was assessing the killer before a parole hearing in June 2021.
“In terms of his admission, he says that over the time he has been in prison, he has just come to accept his offending,” the board said in a report following Ratana’s parole hearing.
“He acknowledged the damage he has caused.”
The board said at the time Ratana was “untreated” and was too much of a danger to the community to be released.
The board noted Ratana had an “extensive” history of offending dating back six years before the killing, but nothing for violent offending other than resisting arrest.
Ratana remains in prison and was scheduled to appear before the Parole Board again next week.
However, he has waived his right to a hearing.
The board is yet to release any details about why Ratana chose not to appear, or when his next parole hearing could be held.
At Ratana’s sentencing, Justice Denis Clifford spoke of the immense grief he had caused Sahara’s mother.
In a victim impact statement, she said Sahara was a “bright, bubbly, loving” child who she would forever remember for “being such a beautiful girl”.
She told the court that she thought about Sahara every day and often woke up after having nightmares.
“She emphasises that she cannot move on from what has happened because emotional pain has taken control of her life,” said Justice Clifford.
“She speaks of the challenge of one day having to tell [her son with Ratana] that his father killed his sister.
“She says the fact that Sahara was also raped, as she maintains is what happened, has made things even worse, as has been the judgment of others because it was her partner who killed her daughter.
“She cannot begin to understand why you did what you did ... and that it makes her sick that you have not admitted what you have done.
“She fails to understand why you pleaded guilty to manslaughter but not to rape. It hurts her that you have never apologised. She states that all she wanted was the truth and the truth would set her free, but that you will not give her that.”
Justice Clifford said Ratana’s offending was very serious – and made worse by three particular factors.
“The vulnerability of Sahara: it is difficult to imagine a more vulnerable victim than a very young child,” he said.
“The degree of harm to Sahara: the medical evidence was that she would have suffered from severe pain.
“The breach of trust involved: again, it is hard to imagine a greater breach of trust than that involved when a parent or caregiver sexually violates a young child placed in their care.”
The judge said the offending was clear – regardless of what Ratana admitted or denied.
“You sexually violated Sahara, causing her the severe pain the medical evidence referred to,” he said.
“That, in turn, distressed her and you reacted to that by killing her, albeit without murderous intent.
“I have to say that you may have been fortunate to not face a charge of murder.”
Anna Leask is a Christchurch-based reporter who covers national crime and justice. She joined the Herald in 2008 and has worked as a journalist for 18 years with a particular focus on family and gender-based violence, child abuse, sexual violence, homicides, mental health and youth crime. She writes, hosts and produces the award-winning podcast A Moment In Crime, released monthly on nzherald.co.nz
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The group went through barricades despite a large police presence.