Gary Nancarrow, right, at his wedding in the 70's during the time he was sexually abusing boys. His best man was best mate David Tamihere who was later jailed for two murders. Photo / Supplied
Gary Nancarrow, right, at his wedding in the 70's during the time he was sexually abusing boys. His best man was best mate David Tamihere who was later jailed for two murders. Photo / Supplied
A man who sexually abused three young boys - one almost daily for a decade - has been jailed after police extradited him from Australia.
But the investigation into Gary Nancarrow - a close mate of double murderer David Tamihere - is far from over as more potential victims have emerged.
In September a jury found Nancarrow guilty on six charges relating to the repeated sexual abuse of boys between 1972 and 1986.
He also exposed his victims to alcohol and porn and threatened them - telling one boy he would kill his entire family if he ever told.
At the time Nancarrow's offending was most prolific, he married for the first time.
The Herald has obtained his wedding photograph, which shows Nancarrow standing alongside his best man David Tamihere.
Tamihere spent nearly 20 years in prison after being found guilty in 1990 of murdering of Swedish backpackers Urban Hoglin and Heidi Paakkonen in the Coromandel.
He had skipped bail for a 1986 rape and was on the run when the murders were committed, and had a manslaughter conviction for the 1972 death of an Auckland prostitute.
The wedding photograph was supplied to the Herald to show Nancarrow at the time of the known offending and encourage anyone who recognised him and had concerns to come forward.
Nancarrow's historic offending - which he denies - was against three boys aged between six and 11.
At sentencing in the Auckland District Court on Wednesday, Judge Nevin Dawson said Nancarrow was known to all three boys' families and the children were regularly left in his care.
He would manipulate situations to get the boys on their own and sexually abuse them.
One boy was taken repeatedly to Nancarrow's workplace and assaulted after his colleagues left for the day.
Another was so traumatised by what Nancarrow did to him, he took to sleeping in a crawl space under his house to hide from his abuser.
Judge Dawson said the harm Nancarrow caused his victims was "profound and still ongoing".
He said Nancarrow's actions were "intolerable" and the abuse of vulnerable children was "a gross violation of trust".
Judge Dawson sentenced Nancarrow 4 years and 9 months in jail.
Garry Nancarrow has been jailed for sex offending against boys that caused the "ruination" of their lives. Photo / Greg Bowker
Legally, he had to apply the rules of sentencing from the time of the offending, and told Nancarrow if his crimes had been more recent he would have faced a lengthier term in prison.
"There is no sentence that this court can impose upon you that can make up for the ruination of the three victims' lives," he said.
"At least this sentence will give them validation that they are not to blame, so they can moved on with their lives and have a future."
Nancarrow's lawyer argued that he should have permanent name suppression, but Judge Dawson refused.
All three victims wanted their abuser named as they wanted the community to know about his offending - and believed there might be others still to come forward.
Police: Gary Nancarrow has "more potential victims"
Nancarrow's offending came to light in 2011 when the first of his victims went to police.
Within a couple of months two more men had come forward.
Tamihere was best man at Nancarrow's first wedding.
David Tamihere was convicted of the murder of Urban Hoglin and Heidi Paakkonen in 1990. He was best man at sex offender Gary Nancarrow's wedding. Photo / NZME
Aside from several drink driving convictions, Nancarrow had never been in trouble with the law.
"He just flew under the radar all those years - grooming boys, using alcohol and threatened to harm his victims' families," said Norris.
"There could be more victims out there."
Speak up: a victim's advice
One of Nancarrow's known victims spoke to the Herald after sentencing, saying he wanted the world to know what Nancarrow had done.
He feared there would be more people affected by the child sex offender.
The man said he had no regrets in disclosing his abuse.
He did not care about the sentence Nancarrow got - as long as he was put on the Child Sex Offenders Register.
"I couldn't have given a toss if it was only a week in jail - It was more about making sure other people are safe and that people have the ability to come forwards now," he said.
"I knew I wasn't the only one… the biggest thing for me is now he's on the register for the rest of his life.
"I just didn't want him to hurt anyone else… this wasn't about airing my dirty laundry publicly, I just wanted him to stop hurting people.
"I've had a f**king troubled life purely because of what this prick did to me."
The victim also allowed his harrowing impact statement to be read to the court by the Crown prosecutor.
He said he met Nancarrow when he was 10 and was sexually abused almost daily for about a decade.
Judge Nevin Dawson. New Zealand Herald Photograph by Jason Oxenham.
Up until then he had been a high achiever at school and in sport and he felt safe in his life.
"The convicted paedophile in the dock of this court then entered my great life, he ingratiated his way into a respected and trusted position.... And went about grooming me with apparent haste.
"It wasn't long before his card tricks, Sunday trips in the car, outings to Boys Town, practice session with the boys rugby league team he coached and his attention had me under his spell… I trusted him.
"He took my trust and twisted it into a situation favourable to a paedophile.
"For over half a decade I was trapped between a rock and a hard place, unable to extricate myself without putting everyone I loved at risk.
"I naturally chose to endure that which was unspeakable over the death of my family.
"I took the obvious option in what I thought was a two-option situation only a young boy who loved his family could take - little did I know the devastation and lifelong personal consequences of my decision."
The victim told the court that he stopped going to school, hiding under a bridge to avoid socialising.
He spiralled at "breakneck speed", started self harming and tried to take his life numerous times.
When he had his own children he struggled. He feared people would judge him for "letting" Nancarrow abuse him or think he was a risk to his own children.
His relationship with the mother of his kids fell apart, he used methamphetamine and struggled to hold down a job.
He said Nancarrow's abuse pervaded every facet of his life.
"I have lived with incredible guilt," he said.
"No doubt that guilty will stay with me for the rest of my life."
Another victim, reading his own statement, said had ruined his childhood memories with his "filthy and perverted behaviours".
"You took away from me what should've been happy childhood memories… instead (my memories) are of the sexual acts you had me do to you as a 6-year-old for more than three years.
"As a 10-year-old the happy memories I should have… do not exist.
"Rather I can recall nothing… other than the sexual acts done to me…. That's the only thing burnt into my memory. "
"You have damaged so many lives, you've shown no remorse."
GARY NANCARROW - DO YOU WANT TO SPEAK TO POLICE?
If you want to speak to police about Gary Nancarrow's offending - contact the Waitemata police adult sexual assault team on 09 477 5021. The message service is checked regularly.
