Last week, Sam Thomas Foster, 20, appeared in the Dunedin District Court and was jailed for more than four years for raping the woman when she was living at residential hall Salmond College in 2022.
In a statement to court, the victim said complaining to police and going through the court process had been the hardest thing she had ever had to do.
"I’ve had to sacrifice so much of my life for you to be held accountable for your actions," she said.
Dunedin’s Crown solicitor’s office would usually prosecute a local case, but it was Invercargill Crown prosecutor Mary-Jane Thomas who appeared in Dunedin last week.
She told the court there was a delay in charges being laid because there was "an initial decision not to proceed".
"The complainant was able to access the right to have Crown Law assess the decision. That’s why I’m here," she said.
Executive adviser to the Solicitor-general Elizabeth Underhill, from Crown Law’s head office in Wellington, confirmed the victim sought a review of the initial decision not to prosecute Foster.
"That review was referred to us. We recommended charges be filed, and they subsequently were," she said.
It was "not appropriate" to disclose the reasons for the original decision or for the subsequent recommendation Foster be prosecuted.
Reviews were often conducted internally, but sometimes requests for a review were referred to Crown Law’s head office.
"Where that happens and the review is upheld, it would not be unusual for a different Crown solicitor’s office to conduct the prosecution," Ms Underhill said.
Foster eventually admitted the charge in April this year.
The court heard there was CCTV footage of Foster going into the victim’s room and photos and videos of the victim severely inebriated.
Ms Thomas said Foster had made the "ludicrous" suggestion that the victim had raped him — she confirmed it was not that matter that caused the delay in charges being laid.
Dunedin Crown solicitor Robin Bates declined to comment.
