Man who forced teen to be 'partner' jailed for 15 years

A man who forced a 16-year-old girl to be his partner has been jailed for 15 years for rape and sexual violation.

Shane Douglas Hepi, 36, was found guilty in June of two counts of sexual violation of a minor between January and September 2001 and three counts of rape between January 2003 and February 2006, when the teenager he forced to become his partner was aged between 16 and 19.

At sentencing in Rotorua District Court on Friday, Judge Chris McGuire said the girl and her family all lived in fear of Hepi, the Rotorua Daily Post reported.

At one point, he knocked out her teeth and she saw "fists flying towards her head" if she didn't do as she was told, Judge McGuire said.

"You were the alpha male, your word was law. What you said went, and at any stage you were prepared to back it up with violence..."

To the outside world, the pair appeared to be a normal couple, he said.

"It was a complete perversion of reality to say you looked like a normal couple. You ground the psyche of the victim down for so long that she went into survival mode."

Defence counsel John Bergseng acknowledged "extreme violence" against the victim but said Hepi was remorseful and had misunderstood the relationship.

Judge McGuire sentenced Hepi, who had 49 previous convictions, to 15 years' jail with a minimum non-parole period of eight years.

- NZPA