Editorial: Full extent of offences often never revealed

Craig Cooper.

There have been several sex offender sentencings in Northland in the past week. Some of the details cannot be published. And for good reason.

The facts presented at sentencings can make harrowing reading. It is important that victims of sex crimes, or persons' names in charges yet to be proven, are not named.

But this paper's policy towards accused, or people who admit or are found guilty of sex offences, is that they should be named.

I have spoken to offenders who have telephoned me after seeing their name in print, to say that they understood that they had name suppression.

They do not. Their victims do. The offenders rarely sound remorseful. Why mention this?

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Because in past week two sex offenders have been sentenced - Patrick Fonce Rivers-Awarau and Hona Peta.

Their sentencings are not connected in any way, other than through the despicable acts that took place involving young girls.

These stories cannot be published in the same newspaper, and will be published later in the week. We are already publishing a story today involving an accused sex offender.

Rivers-Awarua and Peta's stories are unpalatable individually, let alone in the same edition.

Peta's lack of remorse troubled Judge John McDonald.

It will trouble anyone who reads the story and discovers that here is a man who believes his victim, whom he raped, should apologise to him.

The proliferation of media reports on this type of offending reflects the volume of charges that have been laid in the past few years in Northland.

And the number of charges apparently reflects a growing willingness to report this type of offending. I would urge anyone who knows about this type of offending to tell someone. Preferably police.

Because the full horror of sex offending involving children is never revealed in mainstream media. It can't be. And it is a horror you would not wish on your worst enemy, let alone a child.