A Dunedin landlord has been ordered to pay $5000 to a former tenant he indecently assaulted at a South Dunedin property last year.
Wayne Regan Renault, 40, had been at the Council St house fixing a leaking header tank when he began making sexual remarks to the woman while her male flatmate was in the shower.
He tried to get the woman to look at a website on the computer in her bedroom. She became uncomfortable with his behaviour and asked him to leave and he then asked her if she wanted to have sex.
She again told him to leave and he unzipped his overalls and began committing an indecent act in front of her.
The woman called to her flatmate but he was still in the shower and could not hear her. Renault then approached her, held her by the arms and rubbed his genitalia against her. When he heard the shower being turned off he left.
Sentencing Renault in the Dunedin District Court yesterday, Judge Stephen Coyle said the woman had been "extremely traumatised" by the defendant's actions.
In her victim impact statement, she spoke of living in fear, "in a dark hole", and of being so traumatised she had since left Dunedin. She continued to have issues around self-confidence and had undergone counselling to help deal with the emotional trauma.
The judge commended her for coming to court yesterday and being prepared to be part of the the sentencing process.
"In my view, she has been extremely brave, given what happened," he said.
While she described having lost her sense of independence and her trust in others, the woman expressed the hope that Renault would have a sentence requiring him to complete a treatment programme so no other woman would have to be subjected to such an assault.
For the defendant, Anne Stevens said a sentence which included intensive supervision would address the concerns raised and would also meet the interests of the community.
Renault was a first offender who had pleaded guilty and done his best to put things right. He had paid reparation of $1000 to the victim and wanted to make an emotional harm payment of $3500, which was immediately available.
Although he suffered from various handicaps, being on the autism spectrum and having an intellectual disability, he was a hard worker who owned his own home and rental properties, Mrs Stevens said.
Prosecutor Sergeant Chris George said he believed the emotional harm payment should be greater than $3500, based on recent similar cases. The focus had to be on the stress the offending had caused the woman. There was no doubt it had a significant impact on her life and a payment in the range of up to $6500 would be appropriate.
From the pre-sentence report, Judge Coyle said it was clear Renault's judgement had been impaired by the various difficulties he faced. Justice required he had to be sentenced with those difficulties to the fore.
On the charge of indecently assaulting the woman on June 14 last year, Renault was sentenced to 12 months' intensive supervision, with psychological assessments as directed, and treatment, counselling and any programmes as recommended to address his offending and the reasons behind it.
He was also sentenced to six months' community detention, the maximum term available, with daily curfews as specified, and judicial monitoring, with reports going to the judge every three months.
And he was ordered to pay $5000 emotional harm reparation to the victim.
