Mongrel Mob member Manis Taueki-Watson was jailed for sexually assaulting a woman in her home.
Warning: Content relating to sexual harm in this article may be distressing to readers.
Two uninvited Mongrel Mob members wearing their patches walked into a stranger’s home, with one sitting next to her on the couch.
What happened next was both distressing and humiliating for the woman, who was forced to perform oral sex on one of the gangsters.
Manis Taueki-Watson, 29, and his 15-year-old co-offender turned up at the victim’s New Plymouth house at 11.15pm on January 29 last year looking for a person they claimed owed them a debt.
When the woman, 43, told the gang members the person they were looking for was not there, she turned and walked into her house, New Plymouth District Court heard on Friday.
But the gang members, who she did not know, followed.
They found the woman in the lounge and Taueki-Watson, who was on parole at the time, sat next to her.
He asked the woman for a “blowjob”, the court heard. When she declined, he demanded that she perform oral sex on him and then exposed his genitals.
Taueki-Watson stood in front of her, grabbed her hair and repeated his order. Fearing for her safety, the woman complied.
He then performed a degrading act on her. All of this occurred as the teen watched on.
Following the sexual assault, the two offenders demanded cash and property for the debt they believed was owed.
They took $135 from the woman’s handbag and then began walking through her home, assessing her property.
Shortly after, they forced their way into her garage, where they smashed various items with a hammer they brought with them to the address.
Taueki-Watson pulled a large television from the garage wall and put it in their vehicle. He also took a phone charging device from the woman.
Police were soon called by a concerned member of the public. Officers arrived and arrested them.
When spoken to by police, Taueki-Watson said he was at the house to recoup a debt and claimed the sex acts were consensual and initiated by the woman.
He later, however, admitted a charge of unlawful sexual connection with a female over the age of 16. Two other charges relating to the offending were withdrawn by the Crown.
At his sentencing, it was heard the incident had left the woman in therapy, suffering nightmares and fearing for her safety.
While not present in court, her victim impact statement was read by Crown prosecutor Rebekah Hicklin.
It said that while she did not receive any physical injuries in the assault, the psychological impact was significant.
“Having gang members in my home was very traumatic for me. I was not only fearing for my own safety, but the safety of my special needs [relative] who was asleep in the house at the time they arrived.
“My biggest fear was that I was going to be raped by them.”
She said being sexually assaulted by Taueki-Watson as the teen watched was “traumatic and humiliating” and something she believed she would never recover from.
“Your home is supposed to be a place of safety, not a place where you get sexually assaulted by strangers.”
After the incident, the woman moved out of the house as she “could no longer live there given what had happened”. She said she was struggling to find permanent accommodation.
Hicklin said due to the offending’s “particularly abhorrent nature”, the end sentence needed to reflect the crime and Taueki-Watson.
She submitted he had not shown any accountability, had a “total lack of remorse”, and had limited rehabilitation prospects.
A presentence report identified him as being at a high risk of harm and a high risk of re-offending, Hicklin said.
“And this is clear from the attitudes he has displayed.”
Defence lawyer Mike Kilbride, however, said Taueki-Watson had expressed remorse, as he had been willing to take part in restorative justice with the victim. But this did not take place.
He also wrote a letter to his victim which Kilbride read to the court on his behalf. In it, Taueki-Watson apologised.
“I’m sorry. I’m sorry for ruining your life,” he wrote. “I’m sorry for coming over to your house with a patch on. If I could go back in time and change it, I would.
“I’m a Mongrel Mob member that has a heart.”
Kilbride said a cultural report canvassing his client’s background provided a causal link to the “serious” offending, and submitted it warranted a 15 per cent discount to the sentence.
He also argued Taueki-Watson had positive rehabilitation prospects, as previously shown when he undertook programmes while serving other sentences.
Judge Gregory Hikaka took a start point of seven years’ imprisonment and then allowed credit for Taueki-Watson’s guilty plea.
The judge gave a 5 per cent discount for factors raised in the cultural report but refused to give any credit for remorse.
If his remorse was sincere, Judge Hikaka said Taueki-Watson would be looking to adopt a lifestyle that was “more society-friendly” rather than his ongoing and committed involvement with gang life.
After being jailed for four years and 10 months, he was taken to the court’s holding cells, where he could be heard yelling and swearing.
The teenage co-offender was dealt with in the Youth Court.