Erin Leighton, in her victim impact statement, identified the pair in the dock as the individuals responsible for upending her life, leaving her shaken and in tears.
Video / NZHerald
Convicted fraudster Paul Bennett and another person have been sentenced to a term of imprisonment for their “completely premeditated” indecent offending against a teen which left the victim with “massive psychological wounds”.
The two were convicted in June, Bennett on three charges of committing an indecent act on a young person and three charges of supplying a Class B controlled drug, and a woman of two indecent act charges and one charge for supplying a Class B drug.
She was found not guilty on two other charges.
Auckland District Court Judge Brooke Gibson sentenced Bennett to 21 months in prison, and the woman to 16 months.
Judge Gibson said the offending was “completely premeditated” and they manipulated the victim, Erin Leighton, and her family to gain access to her.
In her victim impact statement, Erin 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.
Judge Gibson said she was entitled to a discount of six months because of her mental health issues; the end result is 16 months in prison.
He said by operation of law she will be placed on the sex offender register and he also granted her name suppression.
Simon Shamy, the man’s lawyer, submitted that he should get a home detention sentence.
“There’s no black line saying one can’t sentence a sex offender to home detention.”
Shamy said there was no necessity to have his client registered given the level of offending and his age.
Judge Gibson said not starting with a prison sentence to avoid having the man added to the sex offender register wouldn’t be a proper use of sentencing.
He said the starting point ought to be, given it involves serious indecencies particularly on the last count the man was convicted on, a sentence of three years in prison.
For the MDMA supply, Judge Gibson gave a three-month uplift, as it was used to overcome resistance, therefore, the starting point was 39 months in prison.
He said the appropriate discount for time served was half of the sentence, reducing the end sentence to 21 months in prison, as well as six months’ post-detention conditions.
Although they were both sentenced to prison terms, Judge Gibson said earlier in the hearing due to the time the defendants had already spent in custody their sentences would be reduced.
A jury earlier 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.
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