Jail for man who abducted teenager

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A man who admitted abducting a teenager and taking her on a 16-day road trip from Auckland to the Bay of Plenty nearly two years ago has been jailed for more than five years.

Dean Wayne Whakatau, 39, was sentenced to five years and two months' jail when he appeared in Rotorua District Court today.

The suppression order that had been in force to protect his victim was lifted with her agreement.

Whakatau initially claimed the teen had willingly accompanied him and was happy to be his sexual partner, but as a 10-day trial was reaching its closing stages in March he admitted charges of abduction, sexual connection with a young person and receiving.

Trial evidence outlined how he took the teen from her boyfriend's South Auckland home and drove her to Maraetai and then Taupo. In Rotorua the girl managed to contact her family via Facebook which led to her family trying to track her down to a house there, only to face someone brandishing a weapon.

Whakatau and the girl were eventually found at a remote property at Cape Runaway.

Judge Maree Mackenzie said Whakatau's history of criminal offending, which included charges of threatening to kill and use of weapon meant the community must be protected from him for a significant period. She also noted the victim's vulnerability.

"She was unable to leave you, she was totally reliant on you for money and had no means to transport [to escape]."