The defendant was a senior member of his church. Photo / 123RF
Warning: This story details indecent assault offending.
A victim says her life hasn’t been the same since she was groped by her relative, who was a church leader, when she was 17.
She said the sexual violation in 2024 has had a lasting psychological and emotional impact.
But her elderly family member maintains his innocence.
He defended one charge of doing an indecent act on a dependent family member under the age of 18 in the Manukau District Court in January.
At the conclusion of the jury trial, presided over by Judge Janey Forrest, the man was found guilty.
While sentencing him in the same court earlier this month, Judge Forrest said the man’s high social standing made his “breach of trust” even worse.
“Your [victim] and members of your community and congregation could be justified in expecting more and better of you,” she said.
The man, who is in his 70s, has permanent name suppression to protect the identity of the victim.
The court heard that in December 2024, the girl arrived home from school.
The offender called out to her and asked her to massage his shoulder.
He would commonly ask his wife and other family members for massages, the court was told.
After she massaged the man for 20 minutes, he said she could go and get something to eat.
Later, as she was walking to the bathroom, the defendant walked past her completely naked.
In court, Judge Forrest noted this moment was not part of the charge but was part of what made the victim feel “particularly uncomfortable”.
On that same day in 2024, the defendant again called out for a massage.
This time, he was wearing only a lavalava.
As he lay on the bed face down, the girl sat on a chair.
Then he turned over to lie on his back and asked his victim if she would like a massage, too.
She said no, but he began rubbing her arm and shoulder, gradually moving down to her right breast.
He groped her breast before moving down to her thigh, where he moved his hand up and down.
He then warned the girl not to tell anyone.
During sentencing, the judge spoke of the man’s “breach of trust” in groping a family member.
She also said there was premeditation as the defendant had waited until all other relatives were out of the house to assault the victim.
The other particularly strong feature of the offence was the effect it had on the victim, the judge said.
She said the young woman’s victim impact statement was “difficult to read”.
The court heard that after the incident, the teenager’s behaviour changed “significantly”. She became withdrawn, emotionally unstable and often “unwell”.
She struggled with her sense of self-worth and the unstable effect of having to relocate away from the defendant.
The teen found it difficult to discuss what happened, often slept all day and didn’t eat.
She hoped that if she slept for long enough, when she woke up, the assault wouldn’t have happened, she told the court.
The man had been a long-serving member of a Christian organisation and previously served as one of its pastors.
Judge Forrest said that in some ways, she saw his position in the community as making his “breach of trust” worse.
The man’s conviction and sentence would have an impact on his standing in his church and community, which the judge said was “appropriate”.
Defence lawyer Heena Gherra said that without “diminishing the seriousness” of the offending, this was the first time her client had been before the court in 30 years.
His previous convictions were for driving matters, she pointed out.
She asked the judge for a sentence that would allow the man to continue his responsibilities to other young family members and his church.
Gherra said that because of his physical condition, he was unable to serve a sentence of community work.
Crown prosecutor Aysser Al-Janabi highlighted the man’s sustained indecent offending against a vulnerable victim.
She didn’t see how a sentence of home detention would interfere with the defendant’s responsibilities.
Judge Forrest sentenced the man to three and a half months of home detention.
Because he continued to deny his offending, she ordered no rehabilitative programmes.
Ella Scott-Fleming has been a journalist for three years and previously worked at the Otago Daily Times, Gore Ensign and Metro Magazine. She has an interest in court and general reporting. She’s currently based in Auckland covering justice-related stories.