Five victim impact statements from two families were read out at the sentencing of Berry, 59, an engineer, before Judge Gerard Lynch ruled out any home detention and imposed a two-year-nine-month jail term.
Berry pleaded guilty in May to indecent assault on a boy under 12, indecent assault on a boy between 12 and 16, indecent assault, and exposing a young person to indecent material. All the charges are representative, indicating they occurred at least once.
He was remanded on bail for sentencing, which was delayed but went ahead in the Christchurch District Court today.
The mother of one victim told Berry: "I am so angry with you for making my son a victim and the effect it has had on my family. My job was to protect my son; I have failed him.
"I trusted him in your care, believing he needed male role models to help guide him.
"These events came at a vulnerable time in his life and he is now forever changed. He is unable to deal with what happened to him and feels such shame he won't confide in his family or accept any help and support, his drive and potential seemingly suspended."
The elder sister of one victim said she was the one who had noticed texts on her brother's phone and uncovered Berry's secret. She was pleased that she had "stopped your horrible actions - if I hadn't, who knows what you would be doing to my best friend now".
In his victim impact statement, one of the victims, aged 11 when Berry began grooming and offending against him, told the court: "Why was my life completely changed when I was the one who had been assaulted? It has taken three years of my life to get the truth out there."
The mother of one victim talked about how much her son had lost because Berry had taken it away from him - including his trust, self-confidence, and innocence - and had then turned people against him. She said Berry's actions had been planned and calculated, and told him: "You are a narcissistic, textbook paedophile."
Prosecutor Bennett referred to the vulnerability of the main victim, and the breach of trust involved in the offending. The other victim had needed a father figure in his life. She said Berry should be given limited credit for his guilty pleas because they had been put in the day before trial.
Defence counsel Ron Mansfield, attending the session by video-link, described the offending as "low level indecent assaults". The responses had been extreme, he said, and there was little corroborating material. Berry said his actions were "not sexually motivated".
Berry had been married for 27 years, and had raised five adopted children, now adults. Wrestling, his great interest, had involved helping young people he was training with personal matters and questions of maturity. The offending had never developed into more serious indecencies or sexual violations, though he acknowledged it was still serious.
Judge Lynch said the text messages by Berry bore the hallmarks of grooming. At his pre-sentence interview with probation, Berry had expressed his view that he had done no wrong and did not accept responsibility for his action. He had made no offer of any emotional harm payments.
Berry was no longer coaching and had ended his business interests in Timaru. He was given a first strike warning.
