Rotorua Daily Post
  • Rotorua Daily Post home
  • Latest news
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
  • Sport
  • Video
  • Death notices
  • Classifieds

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • On The Up
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
    • All Lifestyle
    • Residential property listings
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology
  • Rural
  • Sport

Locations

  • Tauranga
  • Te Puke
  • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua
  • Tokoroa
  • Taupō & Tūrangi

Media

  • Video
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-Editions
  • Photo sales

Weather

  • Rotorua
  • Tauranga
  • Whakatāne
  • Tokoroa
  • Taupō

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / Rotorua Daily Post

Man's offending 'sends shivers down spine'

Kelly Makiha
By Kelly Makiha
Multimedia Journalist·Rotorua Daily Post·
21 Sep, 2017 02:00 AM3 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

Photo/File

Photo/File

The "sinister undertones" of a man following a woman and a teen girl in Rotorua trying to get them into his ute has been described by a judge as sending "shivers down the spine".

Paul Andrew Tulafono, 48, pleaded guilty in the Rotorua District Court yesterday to four charges - three of preparing to commit a crime and one of offering cannabis - and was sentenced to 100 hours' community work and supervision.

The court heard Tulafono, a concrete truck driver living in Rotorua, has a background of serious sexual offending in Auckland which he served a lengthy jail term for.

Judge Maree MacKenzie said while the current charges were not of a serious nature, there were always concerns when someone offended in this way when they had a history of sexual offending.

"It sends shivers down the spine of females in the community," Judge MacKenzie said.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

"Your past is going to come back to haunt you."

Judge MacKenzie said Tulafono was driving along Miller St at 10.15am on May 25 when he pulled up alongside a woman walking towards Clinkard Ave.

He asked the woman if she would like a ride and she declined. She carried on walking but he drove alongside her and asked her again. He also offered her cannabis but she declined.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Read more:
• Rotorua sex attacker Hipirini Mead to remain behind bars

Judge MacKenzie said Tulafono persisted and drove up to the woman again offering her a puff of a cannabis joint and asking her to get in his vehicle.

He offered to go somewhere quiet with her and "park up" but the woman again declined and kept walking, the judge said.

Tulafono eventually left her alone and said he would catch up with her again.

Judge MacKenzie said Tulafono approached a 16-year-old girl in his white ute on July 22 at 2.30pm. She was walking along Clayton Rd and he asked if she would like some company. The girl declined.

Six days later the same girl was walking along Malfroy Rd when Tulafono pulled alongside her in his white ute and asked if she wanted a ride, the judge said.

She said the girl recognised him as being the same man and got the car's registration number.

Judge MacKenzie said the police used that to find Tulafono and went to his home, where he admitted what he had done and that he shouldn't have done it.

"Obviously what has caused disquiet is your history," Judge MacKenzie said.

She said Tulafono was jailed in 2005 after facing charges in the High Court at Auckland including unlawful sexual connection, methamphetamine charges and abduction of a female over 16 for sex.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Judge MacKenzie said she needed to impose a sentence that was a deterrent as well as one that offered rehabilitation.

"Nothing sinister happened but there is some sinister undertones."

For the charge of preparing to commit a crime on May 25, she said that charge only carried a penalty of a fine so she convicted and discharged him.

For the charges relating to the 16-year-old girl in July and offering cannabis to the woman on May 25, the judge sentenced him to 100 hours' community service.

She said she took all four offences into account when handing down that sentence.

She also ordered a period of 12 months' supervision for him to attend and complete a psychological assessment and any other drug and alcohol and sexual offending programmes and counselling deemed appropriate.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Save

    Share this article

Latest from Rotorua Daily Post

Rotorua Daily Post

'Stop this madness': Police promise crackdown on illegal dirt bikers

10 Jul 03:52 AM
Rotorua Daily Post

Midweek windfall: Winning Lotto ticket sold in Rotorua

10 Jul 02:37 AM
Rotorua Daily Post

Heavy rain warning likely for BoP – MetService

10 Jul 12:40 AM

From early mornings to easy living

sponsored
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from Rotorua Daily Post

'Stop this madness': Police promise crackdown on illegal dirt bikers

'Stop this madness': Police promise crackdown on illegal dirt bikers

10 Jul 03:52 AM

Several parks and reserves have been vandalised in recent weeks.

Midweek windfall: Winning Lotto ticket sold in Rotorua

Midweek windfall: Winning Lotto ticket sold in Rotorua

10 Jul 02:37 AM
Heavy rain warning likely for BoP – MetService

Heavy rain warning likely for BoP – MetService

10 Jul 12:40 AM
Rotorua council takes back control of parking services

Rotorua council takes back control of parking services

09 Jul 09:40 PM
Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky
sponsored

Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky

NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • Rotorua Daily Post e-edition
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Subscribe to the Rotorua Daily Post
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • NZME Events
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP