A Palmerston North family have sold their shop at a loss out of fear and stress after a man came into their store and led their 7-year-old daughter outside, kissing her on the cheek.
The incident happened mid-2024 while Kashayar Heshmat was homeless and not receiving treatment for his schizophrenia, the Wellington District Court heard.
Heshmat appeared by audio-visual link today for sentencing on the incident, as well as a “short spree” of indecency offences and a shoplifting charge.
Judge Andrew Nicholls said the Palmerston North offending happened when Heshmat entered a shop staffed by a 15-year-old girl. Two children – a boy, 5, and a girl, 7 – were playing on the floor of the shop, and no customers were present.
Heshmat pulled a glass from his pocket and asked for a drink of water, which was given to him. He then asked for another drink, then went away and came back to ask for a third drink.
He let the glass drop to the floor, and when the teenager left the store to get something to clean the glass up with, he walked towards the playing children with his hand extended to shake the young girl’s hand, Judge Nicholls said.
He led the child out of the store by her hand, kissed her on the right cheek, then let her go and walked away. Heshmat returned to the store a short while later and again approached the girl, reaching out to take her hand.
Another adult now in the store pulled the child away from him, and a member of the public tried to engage Heshmat to distract him from the girl.
The child left the store and Heshmat followed. He was arrested a short distance away, Judge Nicholls said.
Referring to the victim impact statement, Judge Nicholls said it was “clear that this offending has been traumatic for the whole family”.
“The victim’s father reports that when Mr Heshmat came back in and tried to take the young girl’s hand again, she was reportedly in a state of extreme panic, as was her 15-year-old sister, who was trying to protect her.”
The family sold their business at a loss “due to anxiety and fear over another incident”.
The child’s mother also gave up work so she could stay with her daughter and manage the girl’s anxiety.
The incident was one of a “short spree” of offences, as defence lawyer Alexandra Nicoloff described it.
In June last year in Wellington, Heshmat exposed his genitals to a group of people on Parliament grounds, and later that day stole some items from a store on Courtenay Place.
In July he went into a shop on Lambton Quay and shook a staff member’s hand before starting to fondle and expose a mannequin’s breast.
He then “committed some indecent acts on [a] mannequin” for about 10 minutes, despite the staff asking him to stop, the judge said.
Nicoloff said her client had “significant health issues”. His offending started with him “trying to get a roof over his head”, then progressed with him not receiving treatment for his conditions.
She noted he had already spent 395 days in detention, which was “well past a prison sentence” he would otherwise receive. He is currently being held on a community treatment order in a mental health facility, which is due to lapse in November. She said it was likely the order would be renewed.
Nicoloff sought name suppression on the grounds of Heshmat’s vulnerability, but NZME opposed this, saying no evidence had been put forward that he would suffer extreme hardship by being named.
Judge Nicholls adopted a starting point for sentencing of nine months imprisonment, with an uplift for the fact that some of the offending happened while Heshmat was on bail.
He allowed a 25% discount for Heshmat’s guilty pleas on the charges of assaulting a child, obscene exposure, committing an indecent act in public, and shoplifting. He also allowed discounts for Heshmat’s mental health challenges.
He said Heshmat “at the time was impaired by untreated schizophrenia. That is a burden that he carries. The community can recognise how that impairs his judgment and decision making”.
He came to an end sentence of 9.5 months imprisonment, but noted that the time already served in detention cancelled this out.
Heshmat will remain in the care of his responsible clinician until he is deemed able to be released.
Melissa Nightingale is a Wellington-based reporter who covers crime, justice and news in the capital. She joined the Herald in 2016 and has worked as a journalist for 10 years.