David Charles Harris appeared before Judge Kevin Phillips in the Dunedin District Court yesterday on a slew of sex charges.
Warning: Contains sexual and physical violence in article.
A Dunedin woman says she has forgiven her rapist, despite feeling ugly inside and out, after a savage sex attack he committed on her.
David Charles Harris, 51, appeared before Judge Kevin Phillips in the Dunedin District Court yesterday on a slew of sex charges after an evening of brutality on September 15.
The defendant was drinking with a group of friends at his home.
At 10.30pm an argument broke out between Harris and one of his female associates and he withdrew to his bedroom.
After a short time, the man said he “was not angry any more and wanted to cuddle”.
The woman sat on the edge of the bed, attempting to talk to Harris.
The argument continued and the pair were heard yelling at each other, as the door was closed.
When the woman tried to get up, the man punched her in the face, knocking her down.
She tried to stand up about six times — each time she was met with continuous punches to the head.
Drifting in and out of consciousness, the victim could not escape.
Harris removed her clothing and began violating the woman.
Every time the woman told him to stop, Harris punched her in the face.
The man violated her multiple times, pushing her face deep into the pillows, restricting her breathing for up to 15 seconds.
“She thought she was going to die,” Judge Phillips said.
The victim suffered 12 more blows to the face as she told the man to stop.
The woman pretended to be unconscious, hoping it would stop the violence — it did not.
After the room went quiet, another associate opened the door to catch Harris sitting between the victim’s legs as she lay on the bed, naked.
Harris followed the bystander, pulling him back inside the room.
“If you tell anyone about this, I’ll kill you,” he said.
Police were called but the sex attack did not stop until they arrived.
They located the victim, who had significant facial injuries, lying on the bed.
The woman suffered a burst ear drum, torn frenulum, two black eyes, marks around her neck, lacerations to her lower body along with large amounts of bruising and swelling.
Harris told the attending officers he “remembers going to bed and waking up to police in his room with the victim naked in his bed”.
As the charges made their way through the court system, he changed his story — first admitting only to physical abuse then pleading guilty to the raft of sex charges.
Harris was convicted of rape, three charges of unlawful sexual connection, impeding breathing, injuring with intent to injure and threatening to kill.
The judge acknowledged the man’s guilty pleas had saved the victim’s from a gruelling trial process but said the harm to the woman could not be understated, noting the “prolonged violence of a serious kind”.
The man who discovered the woman in Harris’ bedroom said he felt hollow and numb.
The woman provided a statement to the court saying she felt helpless at the time but had forgiven the man, despite feeling “ugly inside and out”.
“I want survivors to speak their truth ... Going through hardships makes you stronger.”
Counsel Sarah Saunderson Warner said her client was deeply moved by the victim’s statement and was astounded by her strength.
He wished to receive adult sex offender treatment while incarcerated, the court heard.
While Saunderson Warner defended her client, she admitted the case made for “very sad reading”.
“This is a tragic case sir, there is no getting around that.”
Harris was in state care as a child and had been exposed to abuse, drugs, alcohol and violence.
“The full suite of deprivation is here,” Saunderson Warner said.
Harris was diagnosed with PTSD due to the trauma he had endured from sexual abuse and was less capable of controlling his emotions and behaviours than the average person, the court heard.
Harris was sentenced to nine years, one month’s imprisonment with a non-parole period of four years, six months.
Judge Phillips called the victim a strong and capable young woman, and commended her strength in attending the court proceedings.
Firefighters remain at the scene two days later dealing with flare-ups.