Rapist jailed for ‘cruel and degrading’ assaults against women

Leo Calder-Knight has been jailed for years of sex crimes. Photo / Supplied

Warning: this story discusses graphic sexual assault and may be distressing for some readers.

A man who sexually assaulted three women said he was unable to control himself and took satisfaction knowing one of them was asleep when he raped her. Another attack occurred next to a sleeping child.

The sex crimes of scientist Leo Calder-Knight, 27, spanned a decade and have been described by a judge as “cruel and degrading”.

Today, two of Calder-Knight’s victims addressed him at Christchurch District Court as he was sentenced to 13 and a half years imprisonment.

The first victim said the fears and anxieties Calder-Knight have caused her are limiting her quality of life. She believes she will require therapy for a long time to come.

“I told him ‘stop’ and I told him ‘no’ but it didn’t matter, he was stronger than me.”

She said Calder-Knight ruined her life and she was angry at how much work she had to do to get him off the streets.

“It became my responsibility to protect other women when it should have been his responsibility not to rape people.

“The justice system is a minefield of retraumatisation for victims of rape and I expected it to fail me too. I didn’t dare hope I would be standing here at his sentencing but we made it and I hope I don’t have to be scared to run into Leo for a long time.”

The second victim said Calder-Knight had destroyed her self-worth and caused her relationships to suffer.

She said his abuse led to her self-harming and other destructive behaviour. She has spent years in therapy trying to navigate the negative thoughts she has about herself.

“Although this offending happened close to a decade ago, the impact it has had on my life is still felt.”

A deep shame and the fear that he would not face any consequences made her initially reluctant to speak out. It wasn’t until she heard he had offended against other women that she found the courage to file a police report.

Calder-Knight faced three charges of rape, four of sexual violation by unlawful sexual connection and one of indecent assault.

According to the summary of facts, between 2010 and 2012 Calder-Knight pressured his first victim to have sex at a public tennis court, which she refused.

Calder-Knight began putting his hands down her top despite her pushing him away. He then raped her.

During that same period, Calder-Knight walked into the bathroom where his victim was bathing and began masturbating, saying “let me” when she said she wasn’t in the mood.

He then got into the bath and raped her, ignoring her pleas for him to stop.

In 2012, Calder-Knight tried to persuade the same victim to try anal sex, which she refused. Again, despite her pleas and screams he pinned her down and raped her.

The same thing happened the following night, and again in 2014.

When questioned by police, Calder-Knight admitted holding the victim down with a pillow and said the rape was not an isolated incident and would have occurred more times.

In 2017, Calder-Knight pressured the second victim to have anal sex with him while a child slept in bed beside them.

When the woman refused, Calder-Knight replied “yes you are” and began raping her but she was able to get away, bringing the attack to an end.

A year later, while having consensual sex, Calder-Knight poured vodka over the victim’s face, burning her and causing her to struggle to talk or breathe.

The victim got away and crawled to the kitchen where Calder-Knight sexually assaulted her.

He raped the woman a number of times after this and when spoken to by police admitted to doing it while the child was in the bed.

He also admitted he found it satisfying raping the woman while she was asleep and said he couldn’t control himself. But he added there was a self-loathing and deep regret during the attack.

“I think in the moment I really want to have sex, good sex, and I think I can force it from these people and it’s obviously completely disgusting, the wrong thing to do,” Calder-Knight told police.

In 2020, Calder-Knight forced a third victim to perform oral sex on him after she woke to him pushing her head down into his crotch.

Leo Calder-Knight appeared in Christchurch District Court on Thursday. Photo / George Heard

On three or four further occasions she woke to Calder-Knight touching or raping her.

Judge Michael Crosbie described Calder-Knight’s offending as “frankly cruel” and “degrading”.

He said male-dominated porn where control over women was normalised had a major effect on the offender.

“Your offending started as a youth and continued over a 10-year period over multiple victims, repeatedly.”

However, Judge Crosbie said reports provided to the court said Calder-Knight showed genuine remorse for his actions.

He had a positive upbringing with a supportive family who were “completely blindsided” by his offending.

With additional counselling and psychological help, Judge Crosbie believed Calder-Knight was “treatable”.

Defence lawyer Tim Mackenzie said Calder-Knight accepted all of the offending - even the offending he couldn’t remember, stating if the victims said it happened, then it happened.

Mackenzie argued that there was no premeditation in his client’s actions as it differed from more “typical” offending like stalking, breaking into homes or luring kids into a van.

But this was strongly opposed by the Crown who said there was clearly a pattern at play as a number of the assaults occurred when the victims were asleep.

The Crown pushed for a starting point of 18 to 19 years imprisonment with no discounts for previous good character.

Judge Crosbie sentenced Calder-Knight to 13 and a half years imprisonment with a minimum non-parole period of six years and nine months.