Cory John Taylor was sentenced to 14 years imprisonment with a 9 year minimum non-parole period in the High Court at Whanganui for sexually abusing 14 different victims over 12 years. Photo / NZME
WARNING: DISTRESSING GRAPHIC SEXUAL CONTENT
A violent depraved sexual predator who preyed on the vulnerable for 12 years told one victim "that's what love is, that's what you get for being my girlfriend" after raping her.
Cory John Taylor had been in a relationship with the victim for about a month when she woke up to find him having sex with her.
Despite her repeated pleas for Taylor to stop he wouldn't and told her if she loved him, she would let him go for it.
When he finished Taylor asked if she loved him and when she said yes, he told her "that's what love is, that's what you get for being my girlfriend".
Taylor's offending against a string of defenceless teenage girls and children of women he knew, spanned from 2009 to 2021, and involved 14 complainants, some as young as eight years old.
Outside of the court Detective Johnny Robertson-O'Byrne described the abuse suffered by the victims as horrible and said the case was one of the hardest investigations in his 10-year career.
"It's probably one of the worst domestic violence based series of offences that I've had to deal with," Robertson-O'Byrne told Open Justice.
"No one should ever have to go through that."
Police launched an investigation, codenamed Operation Willow, into the 31-year-old in March 2021, after receiving multiple allegations of sexual offending from several victims who had known him for an extended period of time.
Taylor's offending followed a similar pattern of him becoming drunk and violent, forcing sexual activity with young people, coercing unwilling participants into having sex with him and others, aggressive rapes and highly sexual conversations with young people on social media.
On Wednesday Taylor, whose offending took place in Whanganui and Hawke's Bay, appeared before Justice Francis Cooke in the High Court at Whanganui for sentencing on a spate of sex charges.
He had previously pleaded guilty to eight charges of rape, four of sexual violation by unlawful sexual connection, two each of sexual connection with a young person aged 12 to 16 and exposing a young person to indecent material, and one each of indecent assault on a person aged under 12 and aged between 12 and 16.
The most serious of the charges, rape and sexual violation by unlawful sexual connection, have a maximum penalty of 20 years imprisonment.
Before the hearing began victims began gathering in the court foyer, many shared hugs and offered sentiments of support as they consoled each other, knowing the pain and hurt they had all endured at the hands of Taylor.
As they filed into the courtroom one male walked up to the glass partition separating the public gallery from where Taylor stood and just silently stared at him.
Once the hearing got underway a procession of tearful, emotional and broken victims read out impact reports of how Taylor's actions had affected them.
Many of them had woken up to find Taylor having sex with them and despite their pleas to stop he would become violent and continue.
The statements all shared a common theme describing a loss of trust, suffering anxiety, depression, PTSD, having to take medication, attempted suicide and undergoing counselling as they sought to rebuild their shattered lives.
"I want him to suffer in the way I have had to. He needs to pay for what he did," one said while staring straight at Taylor.
Another who got pregnant after being raped by Taylor detailed how she was physically, sexually and emotionally abused by Taylor on a regular basis.
"You took my power away by putting me through all kinds of hell."
Taylor had strangled her to the point of passing out, held a knife to her throat.
A teenager who was raped by Taylor when she was aged 13 said it was a shitty thing to happen to anyone.
"I felt like my world had been turned upside down, you took a light away from me."
Some told Taylor they wanted to bash him for what he had done to them, while others detailed how they or their children changed because of his actions.
Some victims described being tormented by flashbacks.
"Being pinned down on the bed by him and remembering what he did to me."
Taylor had also threatened to kill some of his victims and their families if they left him.
One victim urged the court not to fall for Taylor's charms or his claimed remorse.
"They're just empty words, he won't ever admit he was wrong."
Taylor subjected one victim to a horrific 14-hour ordeal, after he had taken a "little blue pill" repeatedly raping her which left her bleeding.
Crown solicitor Michele Wilkinson-Smith said it had been a parade of human misery as the victims came forward to detail how Taylor's offending had affected them.
Wilkinson-Smith argued Taylor should not be given any discounts for his personal mitigating circumstances as he had used the victims for his own sexual gratification at their expense.
During one rape Taylor told the victim she wanted it and was begging for it, while her children were in the next room.
Taylor bribed young girls, aged under 12, with chocolates and by letting them use his phone to let him touch them.
Some of his victims had chunks of hair pulled out when they resisted or told him to stop.
When one victim tried to scream as Taylor violently raped her he put his hand over her throat and squeezed.
After he finished Taylor told the woman to "go and clean her disgusting self up, then make him lunch".
Defence lawyer Eric Forster acknowledged the hurt and harm reflected by the victim impact statements.
Forster said Taylor had been the victim of abuse himself after being placed in state care following his father's suicide, was prone to drinking and had appalling sexual ethics.
While Taylor struggled with insight he was starting to see the effects of what he had done and submitted he was entitled to a discount, no matter how small, for his personal circumstances.
Justice Cooke recognised the bravery of the victims detailing the impact Taylor's offending had on them.
He said the key features of the case was the number of victims ranging from adults to children, the time period the offending took place, the use of violence and cruelty, breach of trust and in some cases the high level of premeditation.
From a starting point of 20 years imprisonment Taylor was given a 25 per cent discount for his guilty plea, which removed the need for the victims to give evidence, and a further one year for his personal circumstances.
The discounts reduced the sentence to 14 years imprisonment but Justice Cooke then imposed a minimum non-parole period of nine years to reflect the scale and extent of Taylor's crimes.
A sense of relief came over the courtroom as Taylor was taken away and tears of sorrow were replaced by tears of joy.
After the hearing the officer in charge, Robertson-O'Byrne, also praised the victims for coming forward.
"I'm very proud of each and everyone of them for dealing with it in the way that they have and have carried themselves. They've been very brave."
'He has disregarded our voice and continued with this divisive kaupapa.'