Jayson Aljecara Felipe, 40, appeared in the Dunedin District Court yesterday, saying he could not complete his community work after his work visa was cancelled and he was served a deportation notice.
The sentence was imposed in August after the defendant admitted a charge of indecent assault.
On December 7, 2023, the defendant was at Dunedin Social Club and was befriended by an 18-year-old woman.
She took Felipe by the hand and led him to another bar, where she was denied entry due to her high level of intoxication.
They returned to the first bar and while the woman drank some water, the defendant approached her and they kissed.
Felipe then put his hands down her skirt and molested her.
The bar manager was alerted and approached the victim in her "incoherent state" to ask if she was OK, the police summary said.
She replied she was "all good" and left before calling an Uber to go home.
At sentencing, Judge Jane Farish described the incident as a "one-off".
"He’s not plying her with alcohol. There’s no predatory behaviour here. This was consensual behaviour that turned non-consensual with the difficulties of both alcohol and language."
Judge Farish sentenced Felipe to 250 hours’ community work and ordered him to pay $2000 emotional harm reparation, noting he would likely be deported once the sentence was complete.
But the man’s work visa was cancelled last month, meaning he was now illegally in the country and could not work to live.
He was also served with a deportation notice.
This prompted Corrections to file an application to cancel the defendant’s sentence, so he could leave the country as the deportation notice required him to.
Yesterday, Judge Hermann Retzlaff said he had "no choice" but to cancel the sentence and impose no further penalty.
He noted it would be "impossible" for the defendant to complete another sentence, given he could not work and therefore could not afford to live in New Zealand.
The judge also said Felipe had not breached his sentence.
At a hearing last month, counsel Libby Hadlow said the defendant had completed two hours of his community work, but the deportation, which would be for at least five years, would impact Felipe.
Yesterday, Judge Retzlaff cancelled the community work sentence, but ordered Felipe to pay the remaining $1650 reparation — which the defendant said he could borrow money to do.
