Invercargill artist sexually abused client while giving tattoo

A self-employed tattoo artist sexually violated a client while he was tattooing her, a court has heard.

Lugus Paki Terangimanamaria Pohoiwi, 33, appeared in the Invercargill District Court yesterday after pleading guilty to five charges of indecent assault, sexual violation and attempted sexual violation.

The court heard yesterday that some of Pohoiwi’s crimes occurred while he was serving a sentence for a previous sex crime while others took place when he was on bail.

On November 13, 2022, the victim went to Pohoiwi’s home to get a tattoo on her leg.

He told her to remove her shorts and gave her a lavalava to wear for the appointment.

As he was tattooing he groped the woman before continuing as though nothing had happened.

Pohoiwi then touched her a second time and the victim told him to stop.

She said she had initially been distracted by the pain of the tattoo.

The woman, in her 50s, read her victim impact statement to the court.

“I only went to get a tattoo, but it changed my life forever,” she said.

“I have cried alone for days and in the shower as I tried to wash away what he did to me, but it has never gone.”

Lugus Pohoiwi was sentenced to more than three years' imprisonment in the Invercargill District Court yesterday for sex crimes — some of which he committed while serving a home-detention sentence. Photo / Felicity Dear

The victim said since the incident she struggled with her mental health and lost her job because she was “an emotional wreck”.

“I know I will recover from this and be a strong woman once again,” her statement said.

In 2021, the defendant was drinking with two girls in his home.

He touched one girl’s thigh while the other slept, and when they talked about tattoos he attempted to molest her and asked her to perform a sex act.

On another occasion, Pohoiwi demanded a woman let him massage her.

He then touched her chest.

Counsel Megan Waller said her client had ongoing problems that led to the offending, but he was committed to changing.

“His upbringing led to a long-standing substance abuse issue ... which contributed to this offending,” she said.

Waller said her client was intoxicated for much of the offending and could not recall all of it.

Pohoiwi told his lawyer he had accepted that he needed to move on from his career as a tattoo artist to ensure nothing similar happened again.

Crown Prosecutor Sarah McKenzie said “the true concern is the troubling pattern [of offending] that has occurred”.

A probation report said Pohoiwi was “moving towards becoming a habitual sexual offender”.

Judge Russell Walker sentenced the defendant to three years and four months’ imprisonment and made a protection order in favour of the victim.

felicity.dear@odt.co.nz