Jordan Tegus was today jailed for 13 years after a jury found him guilty of 15 charges involving sex and violence against a woman. Photo / Instagram.
WARNING: This story contains details of sexual offending.
A judge says a rapist’s attitude towards a woman was “illustrative of a toxic misogynistic attitude to women as mere objects”.
Today, Jordan Tegus was sentenced in the Wellington District Court on 15 charges, including rape, sexual violation and unlawful sexual connection, assault and making two intimate visual recordings.
Tegus, who has repeatedly said his victim lied and the abuse never happened, insisting the sex was consensual, continues to maintain his innocence, with his lawyer Hunter de Groot telling the court his client has made no secret of his wish to appeal.
The victim addressed Tegus at the hearing through an impact statement read on her behalf.
“You are an evil, rotten person, without a heart and soul. You don’t deserve to see the light of day,” she said.
“You don’t care about the people you have hurt and the damage you have caused.
“Hopefully, now all women are safe from you, and you are kept away from them and cannot commit these crimes on anyone else.
“I know you will have plenty of time now to think long and hard about what you have done.”
Tegus clapped from the dock after the victim impact statements were read.
Judge Noel Sainsbury described Tegus’ treatment of the young woman as a pattern of manipulative, emotionally and psychologically abusive and controlling behaviour.
He said it was hard to ignore the conclusion that the victim’s role was simply to provide sex when Tegus wanted it.
“Her role was to look pretty and be available for sex when you felt like it,” he said.
He also noted aspects of the offending were brutal and callous, citing an example where Tegus defended his decision to sexually violate the victim, saying, “I liked it, it felt nice to me”.
The judge pointed to troubling insights into Tegus’ behaviour, including text messages in which he belittled the woman for her looks, or isolating her from family and friends.
But the judge singled out one piece of evidence from the earlier two-week trial, at which Tegus was found guilty of the sexual offending, as being particularly chilling. It was a video showing an argument between the two.
“What that showed was the victim, clearly distressed and crying. She was in trouble, but struggling to understand why or what it was about. She was pleading to know what she had done wrong, what she had to do to try to put it right,” the judge said.
“You, however, were utterly calm ... You sat there and just told her it was over to get her gear out and leave.”
It was “calculating, cruel, it was belittling”, the judge said.
The court also heard that after Tegus had been charged, he continued to contact the victim through social media, pressuring her to withdraw her complaint and tell police her mother had put her up to it. He even arranged to meet up with her, all while on bail.
For this, Tegus was found guilty of breaching a protection order and two charges of perverting the course of justice.
The victim’s mother referred to the stress from the ongoing contact with her daughter in her victim impact statement, which she read to the court, saying Tegus’ actions affected not only her daughter but the wider family.
“The impact on our family has been immense. As a parent, learning what my child endured has been devastating. The emotional toll has affected every aspect of our lives.
“I lived in constant fear of my daughter’s safety, which forced us to relocate multiple times, and I remained hypervigilant throughout.
“Your persistent breaches of the protection order and continued psychological abuse, even under strict bail conditions, caused further distress.
“The ongoing harassment through social media platforms extended the trauma for my daughter and compounded the emotional strain on our family. We have required counselling to cope with the aftermath of your heinous crimes and my daughter continues to need professional support.”
Crown prosecutor Claire Hislop sought a starting point of 16 years and six months in prison, while the defence suggested a starting point of 13 years would be more appropriate.
In terms of aggravating factors, the Crown pointed to the scale of the offending and the harm done to the victim, as well as her vulnerability.
Meanwhile, De Groot drew attention to his client’s “appalling background”, saying he’d received a text message that Tegus’ mother was unable to attend today’s sentencing.
“We have a 27-year-old for sentencing facing a long period of imprisonment, with no one in court for him today,” De Groot said.
“That is an appalling state of affairs.”
Judge Sainsbury referred to a psychiatrist’s report suggesting Tegus had suffered abuse from a young age as well as neglect.
The judge agreed to grant Tegus a discount for his personal factors, bringing the final sentence to one of 13 years’ imprisonment.
He declined to impose a minimum period of imprisonment, which the Crown had sought, saying he didn’t want to disrupt the role of the Parole Board, which was best placed to decide when it was safe to release Tegus.
“In my view, this sentence marks the seriousness of what occurred,” he said.
In her victim impact statement, the victim’s mother thanked the police, singling out Detective Rosalind Newson and Detective Sergeant Glen Connell, as well as the Crown prosecutors Claire Hislop and Michaela Waite-Harvey, for their “care, dedication, intervention, and protection that saved [her] daughter’s life”.
“I will always be deeply grateful for the commitment and compassion they showed in protecting her against a relentless, psychopathic abuser,” she wrote.
She also thanked the court’s victim adviser and the community health professionals who had guided them through the difficult time.
“Their calm guidance and reassurance helped us take things one step at a time and their care and dedication have meant so much and has played a vital role in her ongoing recovery.”
Catherine Hutton is an Open Justice reporter, based in Wellington. She has worked as a journalist at the Waikato Times and RNZ. Most recently she was working as a media adviser at the Ministry of Justice.