Erin Leighton speaks about rebuilding her life after being indecently assaulted. Sixteen years on her perpetrators have now been convicted and sentenced for their crimes.
Video / NZHerald
Sexual assault survivor Erin Leighton has labelled one of her abuser’s grounds for appeal - that they weren’t able to question the victim’s conduct leading to her suspension from high school nearly two decades ago - “a joke”.
Serial conman Paul Bennett and a woman with name suppression were convicted last year of committing indecent acts and drug offences against Leighton in 2008 when she was a teen.
Both have now lodged notices of appeal.
The notice filed by the woman to the Court of Appeal said the District Court had made a mistake by ruling Leighton could not be cross-examined on the conduct which led to her being suspended from high school, which meant the defence could not call one of their witnesses.
Leighton told the Herald her suspension from high school in 2007 had nothing to do with the pair’s offending against her.
“Even though I’m trying to get on with my life, I’m still a victim that was sexually abused and to have it just regurgitated right through my life sucks.”
Paul Bennett and a woman with name suppression were convicted last year of committing indecent acts and drug offences against Erin Leighton in 2008 when she was a teen. Photo / Michael Craig
The suppressed woman’s second ground to appeal was a claim that Auckland District Court Judge Brooke Gibson’s summary of the case to the jury lacked balance and favoured the Crown case.
She also alleged her sentence was “manifestly unjust” and that Judge Gibson had erred in his decision to place her on the sex offender register.
Leighton said the woman put her in the position to be sexually abused and had “set the situation up”.
“Trying to escape the sex offender list is unbelievable. It wouldn’t have happened without her.”
Bennett’s notice of appeal claimed the judge might have “inappropriately curtailed” cross-examination on some evidence and might have been “unbalanced and unfair” in summarising the case. He is also appealing several fraud-related charges.
Leighton disagreed with claims from the defendants that the judge was not balanced.
“It was more than fair I believe.
“My mother was in the room for the summing up and she was worried that they would get off.”
Erin Leighton delivering her victim impact statement. Photo / Michael Craig
The female defendant was convicted of two charges of committing an indecent act and one charge of supplying a Class B drug.
Her co-accused, conman Paul Bennett, was found guilty on three charges of committing an indecent act on a young person and three charges of supplying a Class B controlled drug.
Last year, Judge Gibson said the pair had manipulated the victim and her family to gain access to her.
In her victim impact statement at their sentencing last year, Leighton pointed to the pair sitting in the dock and said they were the “malevolent individuals” who turned her life upside down.
Shaking and crying as she spoke, Leighton told the court the once-extroverted girl she had been was gone after their offending.
During the trial, the jury heard evidence the victim was given MDMA once at a sports event, and twice on another occasion, all of which the male defendant has been convicted of. The female defendant was convicted on two of those charges and found not guilty on one.
In footage from her police interview, Leighton said on the second occasion she took the drug and proceeded to take a shower because she was sweaty.
When she walked out again, she said they had lit coloured candles and started suggesting “weird things” to her, including “threesomes” and saying they had a special connection with her.
On the next occasion, the teen was at their house again and although she really didn’t want to take the pill, they were “pushing for it”, she said to the police interviewer.
Later she said he told her taking the drug would “completely cure” her shoulder and said they told her it would help her father, who had been suffering a lot of pain.
When recounting this on day two of the trial she became emotional and said they knew it would have been a “tough point” for her as she had promised that if she ever won an event in her sport, she would pay for her father to get surgery.
On the third and final occasion, the victim said she took three and a half pills and both she and the woman had a bath together and he sat on the toilet with the lid down.
After this, she said Bennett massaged her breasts, pelvic area and put his penis in between her upper thighs.
Katie Harris is an Auckland-based journalist who covers social issues including sexual assault, workplace misconduct, crime and justice. She joined the Herald in 2020.
