Seda Tiv has been jailed for sexual offending against an underage girl. Photo / Andrew Warner
A mother has told of her “absolute horror” at not being able to keep her daughter safe after the teen became a victim of a sexual offender she met on Snapchat.
The woman read a victim impact statement through tears in the Rotorua District Court yesterday at the sentencing of Seda Tiv, 27.
Tiv was jailed for one year and 10 months on two charges of sexual connection with a young person under the age of 16 after being found guilty of the charges following a jury trial in June.
He was found not guilty of three other charges, including raping the girl and travelling to meet her for sexual grooming. He was also found not guilty of raping a second complainant.
The girl’s mother described the “deep impact” the offending had had on her daughter, saying she used to be a bright, bubbly girl but was now scared and anxious and withdrawn from her friends and education.
“I now see an incredibly fragile young lady. She used to be so bubbly, but now she falls to pieces at the drop of the hat. I feel absolute horror as a parent that I couldn’t keep her safe.”
The girl’s mother said she worried about how her daughter would cope with the everyday stresses of life. She hoped that now — two and a half years after the incident — they could “rebuild the confidence and optimism that was violently stolen from her”.
In sentencing Tiv, Judge Greg Hollister-Jones said the court needed to send a “clear message” to adult men who lied to teenagers for sex.
Judge Hollister-Jones outlined the facts of the case in court yesterday, saying Tiv, from Rotorua but originally from Cambodia, was 24 in 2020 when he used a fake name on Snapchat to befriend a Rotorua girl who was under the age of 16. During their initial contact, Tiv told the girl he was 18.
Tiv arranged to meet the girl and drove to her house at 11.30pm. The girl jumped out of her bedroom window in her pyjamas and got into his car.
“Although you weren’t found guilty of grooming, it is clear to me that sex was a dominant purpose of your meeting up with the victim.”
The judge said within a short time the pair started kissing and Tiv invited her to get into the back seat of his car, which she did.
Things progressed to intercourse. The two charges related to sexual encounters in the vehicle before intercourse.
“Intercourse occurred, but you are not being sentenced today on a charge related to the sexual intercourse,” the judge said.
“Towards the end of the sexual encounter, the victim became visibly upset, left the vehicle and climbed back in the house.”
Judge Hollister-Jones said he observed the victim during the trial and it was clear she was traumatised.
“At one stage, she cried out for her mother.”
Tiv’s lawyer, Bill Nabney, said he took his client and his family through the victim impact statement, which was when Tiv realised the impact on the girl as a result of what he had done in the vehicle. In response, they raised $10,000 in emotional harm reparation, which the girl accepted.
“That payment came about after discussions between myself, Mr Tiv and his family and a desire that they should do something. I went through the victim impact statement, and I think that’s when it [what happened in the car] impacted on Mr Tiv,” Nabney said.
Tiv was given a 10 per cent reduction off his starting point of three years’ imprisonment for what Judge Hollister-Jones described as a “substantial” payment.
Crown prosecutor Anna McConachy noted Tiv took the case all the way to trial and said the pre-sentence report commented he had little insight into his offending and showed no remorse.
Judge Hollister-Jones took 10 months off Tiv’s starting point to allow for the 23 months and three weeks he had spent on electronic bail awaiting trial.
However, the judge said he would not allow home detention.
“You deliberately misrepresented your age to increase your prospects of hooking up with a teenage girl. There can be no other interpretation. This is exactly why Parliament put in place this protective legislation.”
Judge Hollister-Jones said there was an age difference that meant the girl was in a “very vulnerable position” when she joined him in his car late at night.
“The court needs to send a clear message that adult men who misrepresent themselves to teenage girls in order to make a sexual encounter more likely will be sent to prison.”
Kelly Makiha is a senior journalist who has reported for the Rotorua Daily Post for more than 25 years, covering mainly police, court, human interest and social issues.