Ronald Van Der Plaat is one of the country's most high profile sex offenders. Photo / Greg Bowker
The Herald can today reveal notorious high-risk sex offender Ronald Van Der Plaat has been back before the courts charged with breaching an Extended Supervision Order by making contact with a child.
Diagnosed with dementia, his health has deteriorated to a point where he is unable to live in the community and has been ordered to live in a secure facility, leaving only for short periods with approved caregivers.
In 2000 Van Der Plaat became one of the country's most infamous sex offenders when he was jailed for a litany of horrific abuse against his daughter spanning 23 years.
Here, we look back at his ghastly offending.
This story is graphic and could be confronting or upsetting. Please, take care.
Ronald Van Der Plaat started raping, sexually violating and indecently assaulting his daughter Tanjas when she was just 9.
For the next 23 years he would keep her as a sex slave, subjecting her to "bizarre and depraved" abuse which only ended when she became pregnant to him - not for the first time - and suffered a miscarriage.
Van Der Plaat would use handcuffs, chains and clamps on Tanjas during sadistic sex sessions.
He would ply her with alcohol and sedatives before sex - once resulting in an overdose that left her with a permanent heart problem.
READ MORE:
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• 14 years for depraved father
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• 'Cruel, degrading' sex offender back in court: but released from charge due to dementia
He put her head in a padlocked box while he raped her and filled her ears with wax.
By the time she was 12 Tanjas had been treated a number of times for sexually transmitted diseases.
The court would hear that by the same age Tanjas had fallen pregnant to her father - but miscarried.
She was her own father's "sexual plaything", and his horrendous litany of abuse was outlined publicly and in spectacular detail by Justice Tony Randerson in the High Court when Van Der Plaat was finally held accountable for his crimes.
"You tied her up in acts of bondage during some of the sexual activity," Justice Randerson said in 2000.
"In one particularly cruel and degrading incident you tied her by the ankles to the ceiling while she was naked and then performed upon her acts of indescribable cruelty.
"As well, you fastened items such as small bulldog clips to her nipples and private parts during the carrying out of your sexual fantasies.
"In effect you made her your sexual play thing, to do with her as you pleased. In doing so you took sadistic pleasure in the pain you caused.
"You so dominated her life and whole existence, that she has effectively been deprived of the years of her youth and young adulthood.
"Throughout the whole period you took numerous photographs of her while she was naked.
"Some of these photographs can only be described as disgusting.
"You kept them in your house and they were found by the police upon your arrest, along with pornographic drawings which you had made your daughter carry out.
Only after Tanjas escaped her father, left New Zealand and married did his she find the courage to come forward.
She'd had enough.
Van Der Plaat's horrendous abuse was revealed and his name became synonymous with one of New Zealand's most abhorrent sex cases.
The abuse began when Van Der Plaat and Tanjas were living in Vanuatu.
It was 1969 and Van Der Plaat's first wife Charlotte Stravers - Tanjas' mother - had left him.
The little girl was 9-years-old when he turned his sick attention to her.
The pair were deported from Vanuatu after independence, considered "undesirables" on the Pacific island - most likely a consequence of the persistent rumours about their "relationship".
Back in Auckland they moved into a house in Te Atatu where the abuse continued - unseen and unheard by any of the neighbours - for another decade.
When she fell pregnant, Tanjas convinced him that she needed to move out into her own flat, that if she stayed in Te Atatu people would start to suspect he had fathered the child.
After he was jailed she waived her right to statutory name suppression, filming a documentary and writing a book - Flight of the Dancing Bird - about her ordeal.
She spoke in detail - graphic and horrendous detail - about what her father subjected her to at the Te Atatu house.
This section is graphic and could be confronting or upsetting. Please, take care.
After arriving in August 1983 Tanjas explained that her father did not allow her out of his sight.
"He turned all his energies into sex, spending hours planning sexual marathons," she wrote in the book.
"While I was in the shower he'd prepare the bedroom, putting a red cloth over the lamp, laying out the ropes, oils and 'toys'.
"I'd stand under the hot water, willing myself to get out and face whatever was coming.
"Usually the water ran cold, forcing me out. I'd open the door and the red light would be emanating from the bedroom.
"He'd tie me… to the bed. 'I don't want to', I'd say, but I might as well have said nothing."
Tanjas said she remembered most of the offending.
"I remember the ropes on the bed… the gag, the blindfolds, the wax for my ears… the pain of the bulldog clips," she recalled in Flight of the Dancing Bird, first published in 2001.
"He'd devised a method of suspending me from the ceiling. He'd purchased pulleys and more ropes, drilled holes in the ceiling and on the floor and screwed the pulleys in place, arranged so I'd be suspended over the bed…
"Over the years he'd become more cruel and perverse with his sex game. If he thought about something, he did it, if he heard about something, he did it, and if he read about something, he did it.
"He did it all to me, I was the perfect sex toy. "
Van Der Plaat let a pregnant Tanjas go physically, but constantly harassed her, keeping her cats and refusing to feed them so she had to return to his clutches every day.
For a second time, she suffered a miscarriage - but then she was finally able to really escape her father.
Tanjas moved overseas, married and tried to move on with her life but Van Der Plaat could not, and would not leave her alone.
She summoned up the courage to report her abuse - and the sick and disgusting truth about Van Der Plaat all came out.
In October 2000 Van Der Plaat was found guilty by a jury in the High Court at Auckland of representative charges of raping, sexually violating and indecently assaulting his daughter.
He was only convicted for the sexual abuse that happened in New Zealand between 1983 and 1992.
The offending in Vanuatu has never been formally addressed.
At sentencing Justice Randerson said Van Der Plaat showed "breathtaking arrogance" by maintaining his innocence - in spite of the huge weight of evidence against him.
Defence counsel Allan Roberts said Van Der Plaat viewed the jury's verdict as "perverse."
"He doesn't see himself as a bad person," he said.
"He doesn't see himself as a person who ought to be incarcerated."
Van Der Plaat denied the offending against Tanjas entirely.
Her mother also maintains his innocence to this day and is not only his key support person and caregiver, but his enduring power of attorney.
In letters written from prison Van Der Plaat claimed he was "father and mother" to Tanjas who he "cared about a great deal and totally spoiled".
"All allegations against me are a conspiracy for revenge and to obtain my possessions and money," he claimed.
Justice Randerson sentenced Van Der Plaat to 14 years in prison and he was 76 years old when he was released on parole in 2010.
He returned to the house in Te Atatu, a three bedroom home surrounded by an ageing wooden fence.
He was banned from having contact with anyone under 16 without express permission from his probation officer and even then not unless he was supervised.
Within two years of his release he was back behind bars after he was caught on camera with a 4-year-old girl.
The pair were filmed, holding hands and walking together at an Auckland museum.
Van Der Plaat was later found to have explicit photographs of the child.
He tried to brush off the offending, saying he did not know he was breaching his conditions as he was never given any documentation when he left prison.
"He also said he did not believe his actions were inappropriate," court documents revealed.
"Mr Van Der Plaat said he saw no point in rehabilitative programmes as he was innocent of all offending.
After he was hauled back to prison he was refused parole three times, the board never comfortable the community would be safe from the sex criminal.
But the board could not keep Van Der Plaat in prison forever; legally he had to be released at the end of his sentence.
The final Parole Board report reveals both the board and probation services wanted Van Der Plaat to stay inside until his sentence end date because he remained "an undue risk to community safety".
READ THE PAROLE REPORT HERE.
"We note that Mr Van der Plaat's offending was described by the sentencing Judge as at the 'very upper level of seriousness in terms of cases of sustained abuse to come before the court'," the report said.
"While we do not need to repeat the extent and nature of the offending in this decision we note the Judge's comments that 'It was not ordinary sexual abuse but was bizarre in the extreme and can only be described as depraved'.
"Mr Van der Plaat has continued to deny he committed the offending.
"That, of course, is his right. It has meant however that he had not been eligible to participate in any intensive offence focused rehabilitation."
At the time Van Der Plaat's risk of reoffending was considered medium high and the board heard that he had scored "above the average on the psychopathy checklist".
"It is the view of the psychologist that Mr Van der Plaat's progressive ageing, possible cognitive decline, consistent denial of sexual deviancy and lack of insight regarding his risk, combined with collusive social supports, hinders relapse prevention planning," the report stated.
The cognitive decline relates to Van Der Plaat's diagnosis of dementia before he left prison.
While the board could not prevent Van Der Plaat's release, it was able to put a number of strict parole conditions in place.
"Taking all of this into account we have reached the view that given Mr Van der Plaat's continued assessed medium-high risk of sexual reoffending, and the fact that he has remained in denial and therefore has not obtained any treatment in relation to that offending, he remains an undue risk to the safety of the community," the board ruled.
"Mr Van der Plaat has shown in the past that he either disregards or fails to remember those conditions when left to his own devices. GPS monitoring is useful to an extent but does not sufficiently address the risks of reoffending identified by the psychologist.
"Parole is declined. Mr Van der Plaat will be released on his statutory release date."
Twelve special conditions were imposed in a bid to protect the community - particularly young people - from Van Der Plaat.
Unless he had prior written approval from his probation officer, Van Der Plaat was banned from undertaking or attending any "culture, craft and creative development programmes, classes, clubs and/or such activities".
He was also forbidden from associating or having any other contact with "any person under 16 years of age unless under the direct supervision of an informed adult who has been approved by the Probation Officer".
"An informed adult is a person over the age of 20 years who is fully aware of your previous offending and high risk situations, and in the opinion of the Probation Officer, will not support or collude with any further offending," the board ordered.
Van Der Plaat was also banned from using or possessing "any device capable of taking photos or recording images" and from approaching, entering or remaining on "the premises of any place that children under 16 years of age may gather, or enter or remain in, any children's park, school, kindergarten, beach, child care centre, library at all times".
The board also ordered that Van Der Plaat was to be electronically monitored - and he was not allowed to have any contact with his daughter.
His parole conditions were in place for a limited period - but before Van Der Plaat could shake the rules and regulations, the Department of Corrections stepped in, not satisfied he could be left to his own devices in the community.
Corrections applied to the High Court for an Extended Supervision Order - a mechanism that would ensure they could keep the sex offender under strict monitoring and management well after his parole conditions lapses.
An extended supervision order may be imposed on an eligible offender when the Court is satisfied the offender has, or has had, a pervasive pattern of serious sexual offending and there is a high risk the offender will commit a relevant sexual offence.
After hearing comprehensive evidence from experts, Justice Matthew Downs agreed an ESO was appropriate.
Corrections had sought a 10 year order but the judge settled on a period of five years, starting on December 21 2016.
He said the experts had convinced him that due to Van Der Plaat's age and deteriorating health, a 10 year order was not necessary.
Whilst one expert told the court she believed Van Der Plaat would " engage in sexual offending within 10 years of release" another testified that his "risk will decline with age and dementia".
"But for Mr Van Der Plaat's age and dementia, I would have concluded a
10 year period would be the minimum necessary to protect the public," said Justice Downs.
"However, Mr Van Der Plaat is 82 years old. He will turn 83 within a matter of days.
"In these circumstances a 10 year term would be excessive-and blunt.
"No one knows how Mr Van Der Plaat's dementia will affect his risk level. It may aggravate risk. Or ultimately mitigate it.
"Moreover, there is precedent for a defendant's age to be treated as a relevant consideration in determining the duration of an extended supervision order
"In these circumstances, I settle upon a lesser term of five years for a period commencing today."
Less than a year after that order was made, Van Der Plaat was back before the courts.
The Herald revealed today that in June 2017 Van Der Plaat was charged with breaching the Extended Supervision Order.
A condition of the order was that Van Der Plaat not have any contact with anyone under 16.
He allegedly approached and spoke to a young girl living near his Te Atatu home.
Three more similar charges of breaching the order followed.
After more than two years of hearings and court process - Van Der Plaat was deemed unfit to enter a plea or stand trial.
Judge Noel Sainsbury made an order staying the original charge and releasing Van Der Plaat from the court system.
The other three breach charges were withdrawn.
"The upshot is that on this charge unfit to stand trial," Judge Sainsbury said.
"Having received the necessary reports and evidence the position seems to be this - Mr Van Der Plaat now has severe dementia; he will not recover.
"There is a lack of pragmatic options… the only way in which this matter can be disposed of... is an order that VDP be released.
"Given that his condition will not improve there is no prospect of him at some point in the future becoming fit to stand trial - accordingly it is appropriate to make an order staying this charge."
Under the current ESO - in place for the foreseeable future - Van Der Plaat is subject to 20 strict conditions.
The conditions state he is banned from approaching, entering or remaining in an area that children are likely to congregate, and must comply with GPS monitoring.
He is also subject to a night time curfew.
But the conditions do not stop him returning to his West Auckland home - the scene of his alleged offences.
This has angered neighbours and residents who feel their children may not be safe.
"All residents of the street, particularly those of us with children, are once again on high alert," said one woman.
"That we should be exposed again to this level of stress is inexcusable."
She called on Van Der Plaat to be "permanently removed" from the neighbourhood.
Corrections Deputy National Commissioner Andy Milne acknowledged the concerns of the victim's mother and the community.
But he assured Van Der Plaat was being sufficiently managed.
"We have an obligation to safely manage offenders in the community when they can no longer lawfully be detained in prison, and at present there are no conditions restricting Mr van der Plaat visiting his house," he said.
"However, due to his health, he is always accompanied.
"We fully acknowledge that the location of offenders can be a concern for communities, and our staff will be contacting local residents to discuss their concerns and outline the measures that are in place to ensure their safety."
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