Whanganui Chronicle
  • Whanganui Chronicle home
  • Latest news
  • Sport
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
  • Death notices
  • Classifieds

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • On The Up
  • Sport
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Residential property listings
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology

Locations

  • Taranaki
  • National Park
  • Whakapapa
  • Ohakune
  • Raetihi
  • Taihape
  • Marton
  • Feilding
  • Palmerston North

Media

  • Video
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-Editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

Weather

  • New Plymouth
  • Whanganui
  • Palmertson North
  • Levin

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / Whanganui Chronicle

'Obsessed' sex offender found guilty

By melissa.nightingale@wanganuichronicle.co.nz
Whanganui Chronicle·
26 Jul, 2016 03:30 AM2 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

A man who tried to use Old Testament bible verses to justify sexually abusing a teenager has been found guilty of his crimes.

Wytse De Vries, 39, used to pray with his victim when she went to bed, then return as she slept to sexually violate her, the Whanganui District Court heard in his trial over the past week.

He also touched another girl on the breast.

After two and a half hours of deliberation, the jury of five men and seven women on Tuesday found him guilty on three counts of indecent assault, and two sexual violations.

De Vries pleaded guilty in 2014 to a representative charge of touching the first girl on the breast a number of times.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

He admits going into her room while she slept and touching her crotch on six to 10 separate occasions but the victim does not remember any more than two.

The victim's mother found him asleep on the floor beside the girl's bed a number of times.

In a conversation with an acquaintance, De Vries mentioned Old Testament bible verses about how if a woman has sex with a man in a city but does not cry out for help, then it is deemed consensual.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

When the teenager revealed the abuse to her pastor, De Vries wrote her a letter saying he was sorry she had to relive the pain of past sin, and offering advice that she should seek counsel from "godly men in the church" and men who knew about the complaints process.

De Vries gave evidence this week, saying he did not realise it at the time, but looking back realised he was using the victim as an object for his sexual gratification.

He would regularly kneel beside her bed, hold her hand, run his fingers through her hair, kiss her face, and touch her breasts.

Crown prosecutor Harry Mallalieu said De Vries was "obsessed" with the girl.

The victim would try to sew her pyjama buttons together to stop him undressing her.

De Vries will be sentenced on October 3.

Save

    Share this article

Latest from Whanganui Chronicle

Whanganui Chronicle

‘All options on the table’: Whanganui gears up for crucial call on water services

13 Jul 09:38 PM
Whanganui ChronicleUpdated

Family seeks answers over daughter's death on Mt Ruapehu

13 Jul 09:12 PM
Whanganui Chronicle

'Easy option': Airport users unhappy with proposal to shut runways

13 Jul 06:00 PM

From early mornings to easy living

sponsored
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from Whanganui Chronicle

‘All options on the table’: Whanganui gears up for crucial call on water services

‘All options on the table’: Whanganui gears up for crucial call on water services

13 Jul 09:38 PM

Under the Government’s Local Water Done Well reforms, all councils must submit a plan.

Family seeks answers over daughter's death on Mt Ruapehu

Family seeks answers over daughter's death on Mt Ruapehu

13 Jul 09:12 PM
'Easy option': Airport users unhappy with proposal to shut runways

'Easy option': Airport users unhappy with proposal to shut runways

13 Jul 06:00 PM
'What residents deserve': Water trial treatment plant to be set up in Marton

'What residents deserve': Water trial treatment plant to be set up in Marton

13 Jul 05:15 PM
Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky
sponsored

Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky

NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • Whanganui Chronicle e-edition
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Subscribe to the Whanganui Chronicle
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • NZME Events
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP