Glen Foreman's "persistent" and "predatory" offending has seen him sentenced to eight months' home detention. Photo / Stock Image 123rf
A man says he took advantage of two young boys because he was “lonely” and “enjoyed the skin-on-skin contact”.
Glen Wallace Foreman’s offending only came to a stop after 19 months when the boys told a relative they no longer felt comfortable with him touching them.
That was in July last year, but not after persistent and countless incidents where Foreman initially began interacting with them using his cellphone, Hamilton District Court heard on Friday.
He would then cuddle them and when he had the opportunity, would put his hand down the inside of their tops and rub their chest, stomach, and belly button area.
On one occasion, the 39-year-old Waikato man rubbed the outside of the upper thigh of one boy.
When it came time for the boys to leave, he would hug and kiss them and tell them he loved them.
As soon as family was alerted, police were called and Foreman was interviewed by officers, during which he admitted what happened.
He told officers that although there was no sexual attraction to the boys, he was “lonely at the time and enjoyed the skin-to-skin contact and affection” the victims gave him.
Foreman’s counsel, Nadine Baker, said her client was remorseful for what happened and apologised for making them feel uncomfortable.
Almost immediately, he enrolled himself into a programme run by the Safe Network, which he was now four months into. It runs for 12 months.
Baker said the offending was at the lower end of the scale and urged Judge Noel Cocurullo not to put him on the Child Sex Offender register.
“He’s taking the right steps towards rehabilitation and placing him on the register would be a more punitive response.”
He also offered $1000 emotional harm reparation to each victim.
Crown prosecutor Bayden Harris said while the offending was opportunistic, “it was predatory conduct that occurred over a substantial period of time”.
“These children were highly vulnerable.”
Judge Cocurullo said he’d thought “long and hard” about Foreman’s culpability, agreeing the offending was serious but “toward the lower end of the scale”.
He took into account the skin-on-skin contact, the repetitive nature, the fact that there were two complainants and it occurred over a significant period of time, but also that Foreman was quick to begin his rehabilitation with Safe.
“Sometimes people in your position talk a big talk, but don’t do anything about it.
“It appears clear that you have recognised that you have a profound problem and [went] to the most relevant agency to embark on rehabilitation.”
He agreed not to send him to jail, instead handing down a home detention sentence of eight months.
However, Judge Cocurullo issued him a final warning, stating next time he could end up in jail.
The judge also ordered the emotional harm reparation and that it be paid in seven days.
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