Paedophile doctor loses appeal

Ronald Bruce Vautier has lost an appeal against his two-year sentence for sexually abusing three young girls.

A doctor jailed for sexually abusing three young girls has lost an appeal against his sentence.

Ronald Bruce Vautier, 59, was sentenced to two years jail in June after pleading guilty to offences involving victims aged five to eight and dated to between 1979 to 1988.

Vautier had abused the girls while they were playing at his house in the Coromandel Peninsula, by rubbing his penis against their genitalia.

He appealed against being denied home detention.

His lawyer said Vautier was a suitable candidate for home detention and imprisonment was "far more onerous" for him than other prisoners because of his occupation and the nature of his offending.

His "meek" personality made it difficult for him to stand up for himself.

However, the Appeal Court ruled in a judgement released today Vautier's offending was serious and the sentence was not "disproportionately severe".

"As a known child sex offender the appellant may require segregation in prison, but that in itself cannot justify home detention."

- NZPA