Rapist's conviction ends victim's nightmare

The young woman is relieved her attacker was found guilty. Photo / Richard Robinson

A young woman raped by a man previously accused of killing a baby and having sex with a former underage student has spoken of her relief at the guilty verdict.

After two exhausting years, haunted by flashbacks of that night in Auckland's Viaduct and countless hours of therapy, she can finally smile again.

"To have the jury believe me and to know he will go away and that I have brought justice, it's awesome closure for me," she told the Weekend Herald.

"The ultimate outcome would be for him to go away for a good length of time and come out going 'I'm an asshole' and what I have done is wrong."

After a three-day trial, a jury convicted Janus Herewini Warmenhoven, 32, of raping the 26-year-old fitness instructor, whose identity is protected by law, on her birthday in 2008. He was remanded in custody for sentencing next month.

It has emerged this was not Warmenhoven's first encounter with the law. In 2006 a Brisbane Supreme Court jury found him not guilty of murder and manslaughter over the death of his ex-girlfriend's baby girl.

Priscilla Carlton, the mother of 10-month-old Sacha Davis, tried to leap out of the gallery at her former lover, later vowing never to have another child.

"I don't think I could ever move on knowing my child can't rest and there's a murderer out there," she told Brisbane's Courier Mail.

"I want to say to all single parents out there, be careful who you trust around your kids."

In May 2007 tears welled in the eyes of Warmenhoven when a jury found the relief teacher not guilty of having sex with and indecently assaulting a 14-year-old former student.

The charges related to alleged events during a party in a rural East Coast town in January 2004.

This week the young woman he raped in Auckland told the Weekend Herald about her ordeal. She hoped to give other victims the courage to come forward.

That night at the young woman's city apartment a group of mates gathered to celebrate her birthday. With three drinks under her belt she and her cousin decided to go clubbing.

Stopping at a Viaduct bar - with K Rd in their sights - the young woman ducked in to use the bathroom.

But when Lady Gaga's Just Dance came on, the pair couldn't resist hitting the dance floor.

The young woman sipped on a glass of water but had no more alcohol.

When a group of young men approached, the "naturally trusting" young woman thought nothing of it and chatted away.

"I remember asking if he went to the gym because he was built like he might and I work at a gym," she said. "So maybe he took that the wrong way." Then things got a bit hazy.

She remembered falling down three steps outside the bar and being scooped up by a man, before she woke to find him on top of her.

The young woman tried to stop him but he pinned her arms above her head and raped her. Her only solace was that he used a condom.

Two years later she still hears his voice in her head.

She has suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder and credited her counselling sessions and support of from family, friends and colleagues with getting her through.

Self-doubt was the biggest hurdle.

"Questioning myself ... did I put myself out there, should I have not worn a dress, should I not have done that ... why didn't I fight back."

Until the rape the woman believed things always happened for a reason.

"But it's bloody hard to find a reason for this," she told the Weekend Herald. "But then I'm a strong person and maybe it happened to me because I could get him [convicted]."

She plans to attend Warmenhoven's sentencing next month.