Taranaki businessman who raped his wife amid Covid opposition sent to jail

A man has been sent to jail for raping his wife. Photo / Stock Image

WARNING: This story discusses rape and sexual assault and may be distressing for some readers.

A businessman who obsessively opposed the Government’s Covid-19 mandates became so “unhinged” that his wife told him their marriage was over.

But he refused to accept her decision and went on to “stalk and hunt”, bully and control her before eventually raping the woman on two occasions, including while next to their sleeping children.

The Taranaki man, who cannot be named, has now been jailed for eight years and six months by a judge who described the offender’s actions as a fall from grace.

On Wednesday, he appeared in New Plymouth District Court for sentencing on two charges of sexual violation by rape, and one count each of sexual violation by unlawful sexual connection, breach of a protection order, and failing to remain stopped for the police.

He was found guilty of the sex offending, and acquitted on 12 further sexual assault-related charges, at a trial in October last year. His wife was the complainant on all counts.

At sentencing, Judge Tony Greig said the man became “somewhat unhinged” throughout 2021 and 2022.

“What we don’t know is whether this was as a result of the Government’s vaccine mandates, which certainly upset a lot of people, or was as a result of something else and made worse by the vaccine mandates.

“But that was certainly something that did take up a lot of your time at that point.”

Judge Greig said the man’s behaviour became so difficult that his wife left him.

“You weren’t able to accept that and you took steps that were increasingly aggressive and increasingly controlling.”

He dictated how much time the woman spent with their children, controlled the couple’s money, took her passport, and tried to sabotage and close down the business they owned together.

“And your ultimate form of control was by taking control of her body, forcing yourself on her on two separate occasions,” the judge told the smartly dressed man, who sat in the dock flanked by two Corrections officers.

Behind him were two family members supporting him from the public gallery.

The court heard that on January 13, 2022, the woman had been living in a safe house but thought the man was out of town with their children.

She went to their family home to get her passport but when she went inside, he came out of his bedroom naked. The children were asleep in the house.

“You began remonstrating with her over the status of your relationship. She told you that it was over, she no longer wanted to be with you.

“But you grabbed her by the shoulders, you pushed her by the wall in the hallway and you started kissing her.”

The woman tried to push him away and told him to “stop”.

He ignored her pleas, pulled off her dress and raped her. She described it as “prolonged and brutal”, which Judge Greig accepted.

Sometime after the attack, the woman, whom the judge described as vulnerable and lacking family support, met a social worker from Women’s Refuge.

The man was sentenced in New Plymouth District Court on Wednesday.

This empowered her as she came to understand she had a right to refuse sex with her husband.

But, at that stage, she did not want to treat what had occurred as criminal offending.

“She just wanted a peaceful separation and she wanted to sort out the share of the children and to keep the business going,” Judge Greig said.

The man received a letter from the woman’s lawyer, making it “abundantly clear” that she wanted to be left alone.

But he ignored it and carried on with his demands.

“Still wanting sex, still controlling her,” the judge said.

“You stalked her, you hunted her. You took possession of her passport and of her bank cards.”

On January 25, 2022, she was at the family home with their children.

The woman thought her husband was out of town.

He sent her a text saying: “Want sex when I get home”. But she did not see the message as she was asleep, next to the children.

She woke up to find him touching her thigh. She protested but, again, her pleas were ignored as he went on to rape her.

“You rendered her utterly helpless as you helped yourself to her body,” the judge said.

“But what made it even more callous was that you had a friend waiting outside in his truck, and the children were beside her.”

In February 2022, he pulled up behind the woman’s vehicle, took the kids from her car and drove off with them. He also continued to message her, in breach of a protection order.

Judge Greig said there were other concerning aspects of his behaviour during that period.

He made “very grandiose claims” to others “as part of his determination to control” the woman, including by telling people he was a senior police officer.

But he also made the claims to a detective during an interview with police, which led Judge Greig to believe it may have been more than just an attempt to manipulate his wife.

“So I go back to what I said at the beginning - I think this was a time when you were unhinged, you were unwell.”

Judge Greig accepted the man was previously a good husband and of good character, agreeing with defence counsel that it was a “fall from grace”.

But the offending was premeditated, it caused significant harm to the woman, she was vulnerable and there was a breach of trust, the judge said.

He took a starting point of 10 years imprisonment and made an uplift of six months for the breach of protection order.

Following two years of credit for previous good character and the “physical discomfort” the man will suffer in prison due to an old injury, he was jailed for eight years and six months.

“Why I find this sadder than most sentencings I confess I find sad, is that I think your children are such victims in this as well because they have been deprived of what [the woman] says is a good father,” the judge told the now convicted rapist.

“This was all just so unnecessary.”

An order for permanent name suppression of the man was made at the request of the woman in a bid to protect their children.

Tara Shaskey joined NZME in 2022 as a news director and Open Justice reporter. She has been a reporter since 2014 and previously worked at Stuff where she covered crime and justice, arts and entertainment, and Māori issues.