Gerald Glen Wedlock, 64, appeared in the Dunedin District Court this week after being found guilty of three counts of indecency with a child aged under 12, one of sexual violation by unlawful sexual connection and one of supplying cannabis to an under-18-year-old.
The court heard the abuse — committed in the mid 2000s — had left the victim suffering post-traumatic stress disorder, and with a cannabis dependency and anxiety, which resulted in an "explosive temper".
He said he had lived with the shame and guilt of keeping Wedlock’s secret.
The man had since struggled with friendships and employment and was prone to panic attacks, though in a statement he said he had more recently made progress with his mental and emotional wellbeing.
At trial, the court heard how Wedlock snuck into the victim’s bedroom to commit the first crime.
On a later occasion, which Judge David Robinson said marked a progression in the offending, the defendant led the boy out of his room and lifted his shirt up over his head to form a makeshift blindfold.
From there, he committed another indecency before forcing the victim to commit a sex act.
Wedlock told the boy the incident was his fault and that it was a "punishment" for the victim viewing adult material.
Counsel Anne Stevens, KC, said her client had suffered a serious head injury and his only supports were his two children, who lived overseas.
Wedlock, she said, could be justifiably proud of how his children had turned out and his time behind bars, away from them, would be particularly difficult given his health difficulties.
Judge Robinson accepted that isolation, and the severity of the incarceration for the defendant, and took time off the sentence to reflect that.
However, he noted Wedlock continued to deny the crimes.
The defendant, when interviewed by Probation, refused to provide information about the offending.
He was assessed as a low risk of further offending, the court heard.
