Man jailed for decade of child sex abuse

File photo / NZ Herald

A Masterton man's sexual offending over more than a decade against young children in his wider family became known but "sadly" was not addressed, Justice Alan Mackenzie said in the High Court of Wellington today.

"Had the warning signs been acted upon, some at least of this harm could have been avoided."

He jailed Robert Keith Jeffries, 49, for five years. Jeffries appeared for sentencing on 11 charges, including seven of sexual violation by unlawful sexual connection.

"The consequences of this type of offending on young children are likely to be very long - sometimes lifelong," said Justice Mackenzie.

Imprisonment was the only possible sentence for such gross breach of trust against vulnerable young victims.

At his trial in August, Jeffries denied 14 counts, a number of which were representative.

The offences occurred in Masterton between 1986 and 1998 when he was supposed to be babysitting.

The 11 convictions were all majority verdicts. The four victims in those cases - boys and girls - were aged between four and eight years.

Jurors returned one not guilty finding and, after deliberating for nine hours, the six men and four women could not reach a decision on two further charges.

Those were officially dropped today.

The court heard that Jeffries - whose name had been suppressed until sentencing - feared that he "would not be able to handle" time in jail.

"Sadly, I concede that a prison sentence will be very difficult for you," said Justice Mackenzie, who added: "I cannot avoid it because of the seriousness of the offending."

Making all the sentences concurrent, with a total of five years, he said: "This is a case where mercy can temper justice."

There were a number of psychiatric and psychological reports which indicated Jeffries had low intellectual function and mild mental retardation, which had affected him throughout his life, said the judge.

"Your childhood has been a sad and unhappy one."

Jeffries had continued to maintain that he could not remember the offending, although indicating some remorse. Hopefully he would get some treatment while in custody, the judge said.

- NZPA