Rimene appeared before Judge Sainsbury in the Wellington District Court on eight charges including rape, indecent assault and sexual violation.
He was jailed for seven years for the hour-long, meth-fuelled sex attack on the woman.
He had travelled to the woman’s home early on September 17, 2021, to pick up someone from the address.
The court heard he had been using methamphetamine, with Judge Sainsbury describing his consumption as “somewhat of a bender”.
The person Rimene was at the house to collect wasn’t there but the woman was in the lounge by herself.
He attempted to kiss her and rub against her.
His advances were unwelcome and she left the lounge and headed to her bedroom.
Rimene followed the woman and sexually violated her, during which he rubbed methamphetamine on her genitals. He then raped her twice.
The offending played out for an hour and the court heard the terror and powerlessness the woman felt during the sex attack continued to affect her two years on.
Judge Sainsbury said the victim had been afraid to put up a fight given Rimene had gang connections and status as a drug dealer.
“This was a young woman, alone in her home,” the judge said.
“She was worried about what you would do and what associates of yours might do.”
Judge Sainsbury described Rimene as someone whose upbringing had “damaged” him.
“There is no question, Mr Rimene, that you didn’t get the upbringing that should have been the birthright of every person.”
The judge did not impose a minimum sentence of imprisonment, stating it would be for the Parole Board to decide when Rimene could re-enter the community.
Hazel Osborne is an Open Justice reporter for NZME and is based in Te Whanganui-a-Tara, Wellington. She joined the Open Justice team at the beginning of 2022, previously working in Whakatāne as a court and crime reporter in the Eastern Bay of Plenty.
