Girl renamed herself 'Mrs Ugly' after repeated abuse

Photo / Martin Sykes

A series of serious sexual assaults destroyed a young girl's confidence to the point where she started referring to herself as "Mrs Ugly," a court has heard.

Details of her ordeal and that of two other young girls were revealed in the Whangarei District Court during the sentencing of their attacker, Keith Stewart Luke.

He was jailed for 13 years, with a minimum non-parole of eight years on two charges of indecently assaulting a female under 12, one of rape, one charge of permitting an indecent act on a girl under 12 and seven charges of unlawful sexual connection with a female under 12.

The 52-year-old had earlier pleaded guilty to offences and appeared for sentencing before Judge Duncan Harvey on Tuesday.

Two of his victims, their family and friends sobbed uncontrollably as Judge Harvey read out the summary of facts.

In her victim impact statement, one of the girls said she didn't want to go to school, hated everyone, became rebellious and stole after the abuse.

Another victim said she wanted to stay locked in her room as it was the only place she felt safe.

She hated her body, felt "yucky" and said Luke should stay in jail so that she felt safe. She felt guilty and thought people would blame her for speaking out if she reported Luke's behaviour.

The mother of one of the girls said her daughter found it difficult to trust others, she didn't see good in anyone and was always looking over her shoulder. She said the girl was so miserable that she started calling herself "Mrs Ugly".

Judge Harvey said documents tendered in court on the effects Luke's offending had on the victims, their families and the community were heart-wrenching.

He said the girls had nowhere to go, no one to turn to and became isolated and frightened when Luke took advantage of them.

The Judge said Luke told one of his victims he'd give her money and buy her magazines if she didn't tell anyone about the offending. He asked another girl if she would like to "join the game".

Defence lawyer Arthur Fairley tendered a letter of apology on behalf of his client.

He said Luke accepted what he did was wrong and acknowledged that he needed to be punished.

Crown prosecutor Bernadette O'Connor called for a minimum non-parole period because the offences were serious and involved multiple victims.

Judge Harvey chose rape as the lead charge and fixed a starting point of 18 years, but reduced it by five years for Luke's guilty plea.