A man a judge feared would attack children after he chased them and who had sex with cows can now be locked up indefinitely while he is treated. Mental health services in Auckland had originally not been able to find anywhere to treat the 36-year-old. Auckland District Court judge MichaelLance feared this would mean the man would be released and target children, whom he had previously admitted chasing when he could not find any cows. However, yesterday Judge Lance was told the man, whose name has been permanently suppressed, could be held indefinitely under section 30 of the Mental Health Act.
Judge Lance then gave the man a 12-month suspended sentence for one charge of bestiality. The man, who suffered brain damage during an accident as a child, had previously been convicted of having sex with a cow in Mt Hobson domain, Remuera. Judge Lance, who was to sentence the man in October, said he was astounded when doctors said they had nowhere to treat him. He remanded the man, a sickness beneficiary, in the care of Auckland's mental health services until yesterday. The man's lawyer, David Niven, said the defendant had been assessed and was now held in a locked ward at an Auckland clinic.
While admitting it was still "not an ideal place for him," Mr Niven said extra funding or a place at another clinic could now be sought. Judge Lance said that although the man was not legally insane, he did need treatment and he believed the public, notably children, would be protected from the man. "My major concern was the suggestion that your disability was such that you might present to the community, and in particular younger members of the community, a threat," he said.
"In my view your offending, although abhorrent to ordinary members of the community, arises from a disability suffered as a result of an accident when you were very young. "I ask you to try your very best to abide with what the clinicians and specialists are doing for you. "Try to work with them, rather than against them."
