The judge was disturbed by the 27-year-old's comments that he still "loved" the victim. Photo 123rf
The little girl initially began dressing like a boy, then she stopped taking care of herself.
Later, the 9-year-old was struck by emotional outbursts. Her mother soon learned the real reason behind the changes. She was being molested.
The predator was her uncle - her mother’s partner - whom NZME can’t name to protect the victim’s automatic name suppression.
The Waikato man, who was in his 20s at the time, performed indecent acts and sexually assaulted the young victim for more than two years. The offending only stopped when he moved out after he and her mother broke up.
Soon after he began targeting another girl, his cousin, who was just 12 years old.
That eventually came to a stop in October 2020 and he was arrested.
Today, he appeared for sentence before Judge Kim Saunders in the Hamilton District Court on numerous charges, including a representative charge of rape, a representative charge of sexual violation by unlawful sexual connection, and three representative charges of doing an indecent act on a child under 12.
Judge Saunders initially heard from the 9-year-old’s mother, through her victim impact statement, and how her “kind and caring” daughter suddenly began to change.
The fallout from the offender’s actions had affected not only her daughter but the whole family unit, including financially.
Fortunately, the victim still trusted her father - whom she confided in about the offending - and another uncle.
The emotional impact was still raw for her mother who was visibly upset in court as Judge Saunders read the summary of facts, outlining the acts the abuser had put the girls through.
Upon hearing the mother at one point, Judge Saunders stopped reading and asked her if she was okay.
Later, when handing down a jail term of 12 years and nine months prison, the judge told the girl’s mother, “it’s not your fault”.
“The only person who is to blame here is [offender].”
Earlier, Crown prosecutor Bayden Harris said the offending was “some of the most serious of its kind”, especially against the older victim who was raped repeatedly over multiple months.
“The victims are young and vulnerable. The defendant was in a relationship with the first complainant’s mother. The second complainant was a cousin.”
Harris said the offending was also pre-meditated, continued and persistent. He pushed for a minimum non-parole period of 50 per cent.
However, the man’s lawyer, James Buckle, said it was unlikely his client would get out after serving one-third anyway.
However, the judge noted a comment he’d made to a probation officer in preparation for his report.
“He stated that he wished he didn’t do it and that he was gutted, specifically for the fact that he would no longer be a part of the first victim’s life and that he truly loved her.
“That’s got to be disturbing, is it not, Mr Buckle?”
Buckle tried to explain that people offend for reasons others will never understand and that they can also develop “genuine interest or feelings towards the victims of the offending”.
“While those two exist in contention in a way that we find difficult to comprehend that doesn’t mean they don’t exist.”
But Judge Saunders decided the man did not deserve any discount for remorse or insight and took a starting point of 16 years, and six months in prison before allowing a 20 per cent guilty plea discount.
Protection orders were also issued against the victims and the 9-year-old’s mother.
Jennifer Sheehan was found dead at a property in Blenheim on Monday morning.