Last week, the Parole Board decided Jamie Michael Eder, 48, could be released after serving eight months in prison.
After the decision, his outraged victim came forward to the Otago Daily Times as she felt her suffering had been ignored by the board.
Eder was sentenced to two years five months’ imprisonment, reduced to two years one month on appeal.
The sentence came after he admitted sexual violation by unlawful sexual connection - a charge which represented dozens of incidents with the same victim, which started in the 1990s when Eder was just 13.
During this time, Eder would convince the girl to take her clothes off, then "examine" her.
The abuse progressed to him having the victim perform sex acts on him.
His victim, who cannot legally be named, wrote to the Parole Board detailing how the offending still haunted her.
"It’s imprinted into my brain, the sight, the smells, his voice, the feelings and the fear," she wrote.
"Now it’s the nightmare that I see that I can’t stop seeing and the reason I fear sleep."
She said the abuse had given her a "life sentence".
"I feel like eight months is not enough. If Jamie can just serve eight months then where do I apply to have my life sentence reduced?" she said.
"When can I get out of the prison of my own mind for my good behaviour?"
The letter also talked about dealing with the offending as a child.
"I remember feeling dirty and wanting to be clean. I remember wanting to be in long pants, socks pulled up, tucking my T-shirt into my pants, sweatshirt pulled down so that as little skin as possible was showing and so would have more layers of protection."
The Parole Board decision said Eder had been assessed as presenting a low risk of reoffending and was not eligible for any rehabilitative programmes in prison.
Eder told the board he had "no real understanding of why the offending occurred", but, despite his youth at the time, "knew it was wrong".
"He appeared genuine in his regret about the offending," the decision said.
The board heard Eder had strong support in the community and noted the historical nature of the offending.
"Mr Eder is no longer considered an undue risk and he will be released accordingly," panel convener Serina Bailey said.
Speaking with the Otago Daily Times yesterday, the victim said she was "disappointed" by the outcome.
"By the Parole Board letting him out on the first go at parole, it feels like ... he’s managed to sort of finagle, charm his way out of having to do more of a punishment," she said.
"It makes me feel like, to the eyes of the court, to the eyes of the Parole Board, my suffering doesn’t matter as much."
She felt the defendant had got off lightly by serving eight months, especially after the discounts he received on his original sentence, and the further reduction after a successful appeal.
"What’s that telling young girls? What’s that telling women? It’s saying that we don’t matter," she said.
"The court needs to make people feel like we do matter."
Eder is expected to be released later this month on a raft of conditions including not to contact the victim, to live at an approved Otago address and to submit to electronic monitoring of his whereabouts as requested.
His statutory release date would have been January 2027.
Where to get help
In an emergency, call police 111
Victim Support 0800 842 846.
Rape Crisis 0800 88 33 00.
Safe to talk 0800 044 334.
Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP) 022 344 0496.
