Roger Kahui was jailed in 2007 for rape, kidnap and sexual violence. Photo / Brett Phibbs
Roger Kahui was jailed in 2007 for rape, kidnap and sexual violence. Photo / Brett Phibbs
Warning: This story discusses sexual assault and may be distressing
One of New Zealand’s most notorious rapists, whom police once described as a “filthy savage”, has made little progress behind bars and refuses to engage with psychologists, case managers or do any of the rehabilitative programmes offered to him.
Roger Kahui was sentenced to preventive detention in 2007 after a jury found him guilty of 26 charges of rape, kidnap, sexual violence and indecent assault for an attack in June the previous year.
He knocked on the door of his 37-year-old victim’s Pukekohe home asking to use the phone, and forced his way inside. He then beat her up before raping her and committing other sexual acts in her bedroom and living room over four hours.
He forced her to watch and re-enact scenes from a pornographic film and made her shower at least twice to wash away evidence of his DNA.
He then handcuffed the woman and drove her to a bank to withdraw cash from an ATM, but she escaped and ran to a petrol station for help.
Kahui’s original sentence encompassed a 16-year non-parole period, which was reduced to 13 years on appeal.
At his first appearance before the Parole Board in 2019, he was assessed as being at a high risk of violent and sexual reoffending and was declined parole for a further two years.
Since then he has appeared several more times before the board, during which he denied many of his convictions for sexual offending and was reluctant to engage with a psychologist or take part in the rehabilitation programmes offered to him.
Roger Kahui leaving the police station after being arrested for the brutal rape of an Auckland woman in 2006. Photo / Dean Purcell
Kahui was due before the board again in December last year but waived his right to make an appearance.
Despite this, the board is required to produce a report on his progress and released it today to NZME.
The report notes that Kahui has “really made no progress since we last saw him” and that he still refuses to engage with a psychologist, his case manager at the Department of Corrections and refuses to do any of the rehabilitative programmes available to him while inside.
“…while initially he says that he will see a psychologist to review his position for the Board, he then changes his mind,” the report says.
“Overall, therefore, as we have said, no progress since last time and Mr Kahui has essentially refused to work with Corrections to try and attend the Special Treatment Unit Programmes he is identified for.”
Before the offences for which he is currently in jail, Kahui had more than 120 convictions and had spent much of the previous 20 years in and out of jail.
The board encouraged him to see a psychologist so he could prepare himself to start the Adult Sex Offender Treatment Programme as well as a Violence and Drug Treatment Programme.
Roger Kahui, left, leaving Papakura police station on his way to appear in the Pukekohe District Court in 2008. Photo / Brent Phibbs
“All of this, even if he begins now and progresses by talking with a psychologist, it will be some considerable time before we could realistically consider him for release,” the board said.
Kahui’s victim spoke to NZME in 2021 about her ordeal and her attacker’s bids for parole.
“It was like a time bomb ticking down,” she said. “Every year it was getting closer and closer and closer and every year I started dreading it a little bit more. When it came (in 2019) it was kind of like a relief it was here and I could get it over and done with for at least a couple of years.
“I think it would be a disgrace if he got parole. I’d be constantly looking over my shoulder again. He knew where I worked because he sent a letter to me at work.”
Kahui’s offending has continued in prison, with convictions for common assaults in October 2012 and January 2016.
He has also incurred some 30 misconducts while behind bars, the most recent of which included being found with contraband and behaving in a threatening manner.
The board declined Kahui’s early release and will see him again in late 2026.
Jeremy Wilkinson is an Open Justice reporter based in Manawatū covering courts and justice issues with an interest in tribunals. He has been a journalist for nearly a decade and has worked for NZME since 2022.
