Shaun Eggers, of Nelson, is serving a 16-year jail sentence for raping and sexually assaulting a child. He is now appealing his conviction. Photo / 123rf
WARNING: This article contains details of sexual offending against a child and may be upsetting.
A young rape victim described what happened as being so frequent that she “kind of got used to it”.
The man responsible, Shaun Roger William Eggers, of Nelson, is now serving 16 years in jail but is appealing against his conviction.
He has continually denied the offending saying at one point: “Hand on heart, did not do it.”
A jury thought otherwise and last year found Eggers, 40, guilty of representative charges of rape and indecent assault on a girl under 12, plus three charges of unlawful sexual connection.
He admitted two charges of breaching a protection order and was sentenced to a total of 16 years in prison with a minimum parole period of seven years and six months.
Eggers’ lawyer Tony Bamford confirmed to NZME an appeal against conviction was before the Court of Appeal, but a date for a hearing had not been allocated.
The offending, which began with an indecent assault, happened over five years and ended once the victim began to physically mature.
In the sentencing notes, provided to NZME, Judge Garry Barkle said the final rape happened when the victim was around 11 and she said, “because he’d done that so much to me, I just got used to it”.
Judge Barkle said it was impossible to capture adequately the level and extent of harm Eggers had caused, and the irreparable damage would impact the victim throughout her life.
“Frankly, the conduct of which the jury found you guilty and the reasons for you committing such crimes are incomprehensible,” Judge Barkle said.
He said a feature of the pre-sentence report was that Eggers had maintained his innocence and therefore expressed no remorse.
Judge Barkle said aggravating features of the case were the victim’s vulnerability, and the premeditation involved.
He said the victim was especially vulnerable given her young age: “She was a mere child.”
The scale of the offending was a further aggravating feature.
“In addition to multiple rapes there were sexual violations and acts of indecency over a period of approximately five years,” Judge Barkle said.
He said the final but no less aggravating feature was the harm caused to the victim.
“That has been significant. [She] speaks of fear and worry, of being unable to go out.
“She talks of tangible and intangible things broken – her spirit, her trust, her happiness, her laughter and her physical possessions.”
Judge Barkle noted the victim said she remained unable to sleep and Eggers had robbed her of years of happiness, friendships and relationships.
“The psychological harm is incalculable.”
Judge Barkle set a starting point for sentencing at 16 years and six months for the sexual offending and three months in prison to be served concurrently for breaching a protection order, concerning another victim.
Eggers had messaged the latter victim 16 times over several days in March 2022, telling the recipient not to tell anyone about the content of the messages and to delete them otherwise he would “get into trouble with the police”.
The second breach occurred by way of messaging on a social media platform. Judge Barkle said that on its own would not result in imprisonment but, in the circumstances, it was warranted.
Judge Barkle said Eggers’ continual denial of the offending gave rise to an elevated risk of re-offending, alleviated only by an extended supervision order.
“As already mentioned, you maintain your innocence of the offending. There is no suggestion of any remorse on your part.”
He said of note was Eggers’ comment in a pre-sentence report that “Hand on heart, did not do it”.
Judge Barkle said references provided to the court spoke of Eggers’ positive features but credit for good character was not possible because of the duration of the offending.
“It was not an isolated lapse and endured over many years.”
The starting point for sentencing was reduced by six months in recognition of the time Eggers had spent on restrictive bail.
Judge Barkle said Eggers’ rehabilitation remained a primary consideration and should be encouraged, despite his denials.
Tracy Neal is a Nelson-based Open Justice reporter at NZME. She was previously RNZ’s regional reporter in Nelson-Marlborough and has covered general news, including court and local government for the Nelson Mail.
The 19-year-old was found in a remote area in the hills of Upper Hutt.