The crimes took place in two locations in the Bay of Plenty over three separate years. The victims were a woman and a child. Both victims have automatic name suppression.
The rape victim was one of 15 people present in court for the sentencing, and Justice Layne Harvey gave her the opportunity to read her victim impact statement.
“You ripped my self-esteem away to nothing,” the woman told Major through tears as he sat unmoving in the dock.
“I had frequent anxiety attacks and suicidal thoughts due to your actions.”
She said Major had made her life “a living hell”.
The woman said there was “no timestamp” for her trauma.
“The scars that are hardest to heal from are the ones no one can see.”
The woman said she was more guarded as a result of Major’s actions and he had taken away her ”safety, happiness and confidence”.
But the woman said she “never surrendered”.
“I refuse to live my life as a victim of yours.”
In a victim impact statement read to the court by a support person, the grandmother of the child Major molested said the girl was an “innocent child”.
“You took a vulnerable young girl’s innocence and manipulated it for your unrealistic need.”
The grandmother’s statement said she “couldn’t breathe” when she found out what had happened to her granddaughter.
“I felt shattered - heartbreaking, intense pain. I was guilt-ridden. No child should have to face this.”
She said she would never forgive Major for what he did.
“You became a thief of the worst imaginable kind. You stole her innocence and childhood.”
The grandmother was proud of her granddaughter’s strength in testifying at Major’s trial.
“After her day in court, I saw my granddaughter smile for the first time in so long. She was my hero that day. That day, [she] took back her power by telling her story.”
The grandmother hoped Major’s sentence would reflect what he rightfully deserved.
“Today will end your existence in our lives.”
In his sentencing notes, Justice Layne Harvey said Major had punched his adult victim hard.
Justice Harvey said Major raped the woman on two occasions.
“She refused and told you to stop. She was crying out and shouting due to the severe pain.”
Justice Harvey said of Major’s crimes against the young girl: “She refused, but you threatened to kill her. She was too scared to speak to anyone.”
Crown prosecutor Anna McConachy said Major should receive a sentence of preventive detention.
Preventive detention is an indeterminate prison sentence meaning that Major would be in jail for at least 10 years before being eligible to apply for parole. Upon release, he would be managed by the Department of Corrections for the rest of his life and could be recalled to prison at any time.
“The harm that was caused to both victims was of the highest levels,” McConachy said.
He continued to deny the offending and had shown “simply no remorse”. She said he was a “risk to the community” with “a “high risk of re-offending”.
Defence lawyer Marie Taylor-Cyphers said a sentence of preventive detention could be a breach of human rights.
“At the very least, it is coercive.”
Taylor-Cyphers argued Major should receive discounts on his sentence for his methamphetamine use and the hardship he had suffered in his life.
“If Mr Major had grown up connected to his whānau and marae, there’s every possibility he wouldn’t be here today. We don’t all start out on the same playing field.”
Taylor-Cyphers said the decision of whether or not to release Major on parole should be left with the Parole Board.
“The Parole Board are well-capable and can be trusted to make the appropriate decision at the time that Mr Major becomes eligible for release.
“If a psychologist has not cleared him, he simply won’t be released.”
Justice Harvey said Major’s list of offences stretched back to 1989, when he became a member of the Mongrel Mob at a young age.
“The longest time you have spent out of incarceration is six years.”
Justice Harvey said Major displayed a number of risk factors for future violent offending.
“You have a distorted view of your violent sexual offending, confusing it for some type of affection.”
However, Justice Harvey said preventive detention was a severe sentence reserved for the most serious cases, and he declined to impose it.
Justice Harvey also directed that Major be added to the register of child sex offenders.
Maryana Garcia is a regional reporter writing for the Rotorua Daily Post and the Bay of Plenty Times. She covers local issues, health and crime.
