A 78-year-old Tauranga man who committed sexual acts on two young girls while on parole after time behind bars for similar offending, has been jailed for 11 years, 8 months.
Justice David Fogarty ordered David Robinson to serve at least 4 years, 4 months before he can be considered for parole when he sentenced him in the High Court at Rotorua yesterday.
The day his trial was to begin, Robinson pleaded guilty to five charges. Four were against one victim: sexual violation by unlawful sexual connection on a girl under 12, indecent assault, inducing her to do an indecent act on him, performing an indecent act on her, and a separate charge of sexually violating another girl. The charges are representative, meaning his offending happened more than once.
He'd originally faced 13 charges which dated from between 1996 to 1999.
The two women he offended against, one of them pregnant, sobbed as they recounted in victim impact statements the on-going effects Robinson's predatory ways had on them.
Frequently turning to address Robinson in the dock as she read her impact statement, the first victim claimed he'd groomed her as a young girl and accused him of showing no remorse.
"My reaction to his abuse was to become a train wreck, she said. "He hurt me on every level ... he emotionally and sexually abused me, I blocked out the reality of the nightmare my life had become."
The second victim said Robinson had abused her when she was nine. "It left me with a huge amount of self-blame, the situation compounded because I was hiding the abuse from my family."
She said she had become terrified of him and even now had trouble having a normal sexual relationship with her husband.
"I am pregnant; I am anxious if I have a daughter I will feel the effects of his offending even more," she said.
Despite Robinson's guilty plea, his lawyer, Tony Rickard-Simms, said Robinson continued to dispute portions of the Summary of Facts relating to one complainant, this centred around the frequency of his offending against her.
However, after the judge adjourned proceedings to give counsel time to confer with Robinson he agreed to accept the summary and be sentenced on the facts as they stood.
Earlier, Crown prosecutor Heidi Wrigley said offending against one victim had occurred while Robinson was on parole after being jailed for earlier sexual offending.
Ms Wrigley argued for a lengthy minimum period of imprisonment.
Mr Rickard-Simms countered that one wasn't required, saying Robinson was going to struggle to get parole.
"He is coming up to 80 years of age, potentially he could be in for a life sentence," he said.
Justice Fogarty sentenced Robinson to 11 years, 8 months, refusing to give Robinson a discount on his jail time because of his age, saying he was fit and well.