A convicted rapist was sent to prison for six years for kidnapping and indecently assaulting a 17-year-old shop assistant.
Henry Duanne Pompey, 34, of Rahotu, appeared in the High Court at New Plymouth yesterday for sentencing on charges of indecent assault, kidnapping, assaulting a female, aggravated assault, robbery and burglary.
Justice Nicholson sentenced Pompey to six years' imprisonment on the robbery charge and two years' imprisonment on the other six charges, to be served concurrently.
He imposed a minimum non-parole period of three years.
The court was told that on January 23 at 8.30pm, Pompey went to the Moturoa Video Ezy store.
The shop assistant approached Pompey, who was looking at videos in the adult section, to warn him the store was about to close.
He followed her to the front of the shop, shut the door and turned off the lights.
Fearing for her safety, the woman hit the store's panic button. Pompey demanded money and, after opening the till, put his hands down the woman's top and fondled her breasts.
He took $268 and ordered the shop assistant to go into an adjacent storeroom where he pushed her to the floor and punched her in the face. Pompey apologised after she pleaded with him to stop.
When a security guard arrived, Pompey punched him in the head before running away.
A week later, Pompey gave himself up and told police "something had come over him" and he did not know what he was doing.
Crown prosecutor Chris Wilkinson-Smith said Pompey should be considered for preventive detention because two psychiatric assessments concluded there was a high risk Pompey would reoffend and his chance of rehabilitation was poor.
Justice Nicholson declined preventive detention. He said Pompey's pattern of sexual offending was not of a similar nature. He was not convinced Pompey would commit an offence of that nature again.
- NZPA
AdvertisementAdvertise with NZME.
Latest from New Zealand
Specialist Māori roles facing the chop from Oranga Tamariki
Specialist Māori roles in Oranga Tamariki's crosshairs amid restructure.