WARNING: This article discusses sexual assault and may be upsetting for some readers

A woman says she lost her sense of personal security, moved towns out of fear for her safety and has become socially isolated after being kidnapped and sexually violated.

The 26-year-old’s suffering was caused by a man who has now been sentenced to preventive detention.

Justice Owen Paulsen said the actions of the man, who has name suppression, completely changed the woman’s life.

“The trauma you caused her is deep and far-reaching,” Justice Paulsen told him when he was being sentenced at the Christchurch High Court earlier this year.

“She has recurrent memories of what you did to her and has been forced to leave Christchurch because she considers she would be in danger if she did not.

“She considers you a very dangerous man and fears for what you will do when you are released from custody.”

Sentencing was transferred to the High Court because a District Court judge considered a sentence of preventive detention was appropriate.

Preventive detention is an indeterminate jail sentence where prisoners can be released on parole but remain managed by Corrections for the rest of their life. They can be recalled to prison at any time.

The judge said the courts had considered preventive detention on two previous occasions, in relation to other offending.

On both occasions, it was not imposed by a fine margin, with another judge noting he had “agonised” over whether to impose it, according to the sentencing notes.

She believed she was going to die

The summary of facts showed the pair had known each other for a short time when her partner sold the man a car to obtain methamphetamine in April 2022.

When the man became aware the car appeared to be stolen, he sought revenge.

The couple visited his Christchurch house later that month looking to buy more methamphetamine, which they were to collect later on.

He led them to believe he wasn’t at home, but the drugs would be there.

They returned the next day to get the drugs. The woman, feeling uneasy, placed her phone in her pocket on an active call to her partner, who waited in a car as she was let into the house by an occupant.

After she was let inside the house, the door was closed behind her and she walked to the man’s bedroom, expecting to find the drugs.

Instead, she was confronted by him with what she believed to be a firearm hidden under a cloth.

She believed she was going to die as he held the object towards her and told her to “get the f**k on the ground”.

He warned her not to make a sound because his firearm had a silencer and nobody would hear a “peep” out of her.

Meanwhile, her partner heard the commotion through the open call, called 111, and left, fearing he would be detained, as there were outstanding warrants for his arrest.

The man rang him shortly afterwards, referring to the issue of the stolen car, and told him to come back to the house.

He told her partner he would shoot her if he didn’t come back, or if police had been called.

The partner called the police again and asked them not to attend because it would endanger her.

Other occupants of the house were sent to find the partner while the man ordered the woman into the bathroom and ordered her to perform oral sex.

She was crying, begging him not to make her do it.

After finishing, he told her, “That’s payment for the car”, and that she wasn’t allowed to leave until her partner had been found.

Police arrived and called her cellphone while the man insisted she put it on loudspeaker.

Police asked her to leave the house, and she walked out and spoke to attending officers, fearful, but didn’t immediately tell them what had happened.

She was described by officers who dealt with her later that day as being in a distressed state.

A long history of violence

Justice Paulsen, in sentencing, said the man had 58 convictions stretching back to 1983, nine of them for violent offending and four involving firearms.

He had three convictions for sexual violation.

He had been jailed 14 times, and during one stretch, raped another prisoner, forcing them to perform oral sex on another occasion, all accompanied by violence.

“Importantly, you have refused to acknowledge your sexual offending, and you remain untreated for this,” Justice Paulsen said.

“The Crown submits, and I accept, that there is little reason to believe your position will change.

“Therefore, at the end of any finite sentence imposed you will likely be released without having engaged in any targeted sexual offending treatment.”

Justice Paulsen said that if an Extended Supervision Order (ESO) was imposed, it could be expected to be in effect until the man turned 75.

The judge said the risk of reoffending couldn’t be sufficiently managed by an ESO, particularly when the man denied the sexual offending, showed no remorse for other violent offending, and didn’t exhibit a willingness to address its causes.

Justice Paulsen said a report showed the use of violence was instilled in the man from a very young age by his father, who would violently punish him, forcing him to fight his siblings, and withholding food from him as further punishment.

He joined a gang at 15 and became patched at 18.

Justice Paulsen sentenced him to preventive detention with a minimum period of five years and eight months’ imprisonment.

SEXUAL HARM


Where to get help:
If it's an emergency and you feel that you or someone else is at risk, call 111.
If you've ever experienced sexual assault or abuse and need to talk to someone, contact Safe to Talk confidentially, any time 24/7:
• Call 0800 044 334
• Text 4334
• Email support@safetotalk.nz
• For more info or to web chat visit safetotalk.nz
Alternatively contact your local police station - click here for a list.
If you have been sexually assaulted, remember it's not your fault.