Repeated "vile, disgusting" sexual offending by a Bay of Plenty man has earned him a 19-and-a-half-year jail term.
The man, whose name is permanently suppressed to protect his victim, was sentenced in the High Court at Rotorua this morning by Justice Matthew Palmer, QC.
He ordered that he must spend
at least nine years 10 months behind bars before he can apply for parole, emphasising the man continued to refuse to accept the jury's verdicts.
The 36 verdicts were delivered after a lengthy trial in the same court in April where jurors heard the charges spanned almost 15 years.
Referring to the victim's impact statement which was not read in open court, Justice Palmer said the victim felt as if the man had taken her life from her, she had attempted to kill herself and she continued to struggle to cope. Giving evidence (which took four days) had been extremely stressful for her.
"She is a strong young woman who will hopefully be able to get on with her life and obtain closure ... She is going through more than anyone should have to endure," the judge said.
The man had used force to intimidate and gain control over his victim and force her into submission. As she grew older she had attempted to resist but had been given hidings.
"You have done enormous harm to her with your callousness and sense of entitlement exacerbating your offending," the judge told the man.
Outlining how he had reached the length of the sentence, Justice Palmer said he took into account the scale and duration of the man's high degree of offending, noting the victim's vulnerability lay heavily in his final analysis.
He said the offending was "vile" and "disgusting".
Referring to a Department of Corrections report, the judge said the man continued to show no remorse and refused to accept the verdicts.
The 19–plus years jail term was imposed on a raft of sexual violation by rape charges. It encompassed additional charges of sexual violation by unlawful sexual connection, indecent assault on a child, assault with intent to commit sexual violation, indecent assault and being a man he assaulted a female. All sentences are to be served concurrently. A number of the charges were representative meaning they happened more than once.
Throughout the sentencing the man remained emotionless in the dock while his wife who was in the public gallery repeatedly shook her head.
