Oil and gas industry worker Peter Currie sentenced for indecently assaulting two young people

Highly regarded oil and gas industry worker Peter Currie has been sentenced to home detention for indecently assaulting two young children.

WARNING, this story references sexual offending against young people.

The sobs of one of Peter Currie’s victims grew louder as she heard he had escaped being registered as a child sex offender, despite what he did to her and another child.

The two victims, one holding a teddy bear, steeled themselves to tell the Nelson District Court today of their broken childhoods after being indecently assaulted by Currie.

The 60-year-old denied the offending and said in one case, while dancing with the young victim at a wedding, an indecent assault “must have happened accidentally”, but a jury found otherwise.

Currie, who was a highly regarded worker in the oil and gas industry, was sentenced on three charges of indecently assaulting the two young people, in separate incidents four years apart.

One of the charges arose from an incident involving a 12-year-old girl during a wedding dance in December 2008.

Judge Garry Barkle said in sentencing Currie that he had drunk a lot of alcohol, which in no way excused the conduct.

“She had just turned 12, she was dancing and enjoying her night.”

It was during a slower song that Currie pulled the young girl close, rubbed her back and then indecently assaulted her.

“She ran away, she was distressed and crying immediately. Her upset was apparent to others but she could pass off the reason for her upset so the wedding was not spoiled,” Judge Barkle said.

The victim, now aged 28, said that it had taken years for her to try and understand what had happened.

“Maybe finally I’ll get the chance to heal,” she said.

‘I’ve suffered’

The offending came to light when charges were laid related to a single incident against the second victim in 2012.

The mother of this victim said the road to his recovery had been long, lonely and full of pain.

“Being a mum is the best job in the world but due to your actions it’s also the most painful,” she told Currie.

The second victim stood silently for some time before gathering himself to speak.

“I don’t have much to say about what you did.

“But for most of my life, I’ve been confused and conflicted over why I was not allowed to be happy.”

Currie indecently assaulted the victim after luring the young person into the bathroom of the house they were at.

The victim said the consequences had been devastating, mentally and emotionally.

“For the majority of my life, I’ve suffered and I’ve spent the past six years in therapy.”

Judge Barkle said even though Currie denied either event happened, the jury determined beyond reasonable doubt the strength of each victim’s evidence.

He commended the two victims and the mother for having the courage to confront Currie in court and read their statements.

“It’s not possible for any of us to understand or comprehend the impact of your conduct but for them it’s been life-changing.

“You have robbed them of their carefree teen years.

“I want to express my admiration for their achievements working through the torment of your conduct,” Judge Barkle said.

Members of the public seated in the public gallery glared at Currie, barely concealing their rage as he was sentenced, and as Judge Barkle noted the “troubling” aspects of a pre-sentence report that indicated his lack of insight into what he’d done.

However, the judge also acknowledged Currie’s previously unblemished background, the regard in which he was held in the industry where he worked in Taranaki and that he had been a contributing member of his local community.

From a starting point of 22 months in prison on the lead charges linked to the second victim, a further five months in prison was added for the offending against the first victim to arrive at 27 months in prison.

It was reduced to 23 months taking into account Currie’s previously blameless past. Judge Barkle said he had grappled with whether home detention served the purposes and principles of sentencing but in this case he conceded by a “very slim margin” that it did.

Currie was sentenced to 11 months’ home detention to be served at an address in New Plymouth. He was also ordered to pay a total of $6000 in emotional harm reparation to the victims.

Judge Barkle’s decision to not have him registered as a child sex offender, based on the length of time since the offending, the lack of similar conduct since and the work he was doing on himself, was greeted with an outburst of expletives by the first victim, who was led sobbing from the court.

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.