Man confessed to abusing his daughter, then Police let him go

A man with schizophrenia who called police admitting he had sexually abused his daughter was released and went on to continue abusing her for another year.

The girl's younger sibling was also present in the room when some of the offending occurred.

The man, who has permanent name suppression to protect his daughter, was sentenced to two years, 10 months and one week's imprisonment when he appeared in the Palmerston North District Court for sentencing today.

He was convicted on four counts of indecent assault on a female under 12 years old and two counts of breaching a protection order.

Judge Ian Carter noted in his sentencing today that the man called police in February 2018 saying he thought he had harmed his own daughter.

He made a second call and police made inquiries, but no complaint was made as he was unable to say exactly what it was he'd done.

The man was released from police custody several days later, after which he continued to abuse his daughter until December 2019, when he was arrested.

"The police had no alternative but to act as they did," Judge Ian Carter told the court.

In one instance he touched his daughter's genitals under her clothes and in another incident he put his penis against her body.

"Some of the offending involved skin-on-skin touching involving the victim, that makes the offending more serious," Judge Carter said.

"It is clear from the statement that the harm to the victim is very serious. Although I acknowledge that the full extent of the harm to the victim is not yet known."

"It's difficult to find a more serious breach of trust."

The Judge said the victim was incredibly vulnerable and that the man's other young child was also in the room for some of the offending.

Judge Ian Carter noted that the man had struggled with mental illness for a lengthy period, although these issues had possibly been exacerbated by the use of methamphetamine and cannabis.