Adrian Justin Waa (34) was found guilty of rape, two counts of sexual violation by unlawful sexual connection and burglary following a retrial in the Dunedin District Court last year.
The court heard yesterday he maintained his innocence, claiming the sexual contact was consensual.
On September 22, 2019 when the defendant turned up at the victim’s home, her boyfriend was in prison — a fact Waa was aware of, Judge Michael Turner noted.
He clearly went to the address at 5am with sexual intent, the judge said.
The victim went to police a month after the episode and described how she had been woken early in the morning by banging on her front door.
Waa — nicknamed "Age" — had only met her fleetingly in the past but told her he would not leave until she let him in, she said.
The woman sought refuge in her bedroom, but Waa pursued after locking her dogs away.
She told the jury how he stripped her of her clothes and performed a sex act on her as she repeatedly told him to stop.
"Eventually, I just gave up ... I didn’t have the fight any more," the victim said at the first trial before it was aborted over an evidential issue.
Waa told her he would come back and repeat the treatment "every single day", she said.
Later in the morning he demanded the victim prepare breakfast for him, and she was only able to flee the address when he fell asleep.
Crown prosecutor Richard Smith said it was a prolonged attack, involved a variety of sex acts and "a high degree of force".
Aggravating that, he said, was the invasion of the victim’s home, a place where she was entitled to feel safe.
She still feared running into Waa or his associates.
Judge Turner said she had suffered significant emotional trauma not only from the incident but from giving evidence.
"This was premeditated, prolonged offending, featuring a vulnerable victim and invasion of her home," he said.
Counsel Len Andersen QC pointed to his client’s dysfunctional childhood, which had seen him move frequently between foster homes after his grandparents died when he was only 6 years old.
"The violence in his upbringing is reflected in what he’s done," he said.
Waa was now undergoing counselling in prison and was doing a business course, the court heard.
"He says it is the first time he’s taken an interest in his future," Mr Andersen said.
"If he’s going to turn his life around this is going to be the time."
He stressed Waa was not actively involved in a gang.
The incident was not, however, the defendant’s first criminal foray.
Six months earlier he was attending an event at Forsyth Barr Stadium when one of his friends was arrested over a public brawl.
Waa stepped in and obstructed the officers, ending with a violent struggle during which he spat on a female constable.
He was sentenced to community work but had previously been incarcerated for serious violence in both Dunedin and Northland.
Yesterday, Waa was jailed for eight years and four months.
