John Donald Maclean, 64, was sentenced in the Dunedin District Court this week and his name suppression lifted, nearly five years after he was charged.
The case went to trial in May last year but had to be aborted. On the day his retrial was supposed to begin in October he received a sentencing indication and ultimately pleaded guilty to charges of indecency and sexual conduct with an under-12.
Though it was Maclean’s sentencing, the moment belonged to the women who he had abused, who were finally able to face him and publicly detail the devastation he had caused.
One said she been "living in a mental prison, unable to escape", and turned to the man in the dock as she spoke.
"How long you have made us wait for this justice, for our justice, is really hurtful but I expected nothing less from a coward such as you," the victim said.
"For the last five years, my life has had to revolve around you, because you didn’t have the balls or a single care in the world to tell the truth. It’s made me feel worthless and broken and it’s torn me from the inside out."
The other woman said, in a statement, that the abuse had corrupted every area of her life.
"I was so affected by what you did, I didn’t even want to be in my own skin. I felt heavy and dirty and I couldn’t scrub it off," she wrote.
"I don’t have the energy to live the normal life I want because my head is full of what you did to me. You left me feeling guilty that I allowed it to happen. You denying it made me feel like I was crazy."
The court heard disclosures were made by the younger victim in 2014 at which time Maclean apologised, agreed to attend therapy and later paid her $25,000.
But Judge Michael Turner rejected his claims of remorse.
During a recent interview with Probation, Maclean said he could not remember the earliest crimes he committed and said one victim could have easily been influenced by the other.
Crown prosecutor Craig Power called it "an extraordinary comment" given the defendant’s guilty pleas.
In the same interview, Maclean denied he was driven by sexual arousal and went on to blame his conduct on his emotional state, alcohol consumption and his relationship issues at the time.
The defendant said he was sorry "for everything that’s gone on" and though it was too early to seek forgiveness, "if one day the victims want to reconnect, my door will always be open".
The judge dismissed his comments as victim-blaming, deflection and minimisation.
"Despite those who have written in support of you, saying you’re remorseful, I’m left with the clear view you’re sorry for the position you find yourself in rather than being truly remorseful for what you’ve done," he said.
Counsel Fiona Guy Kidd KC stressed her client had undergone two stints of treatment with a psychotherapist and urged the court to impose a sentence of home detention.
Judge Turner, though, was unconvinced.
He imposed a term of 21 and a-half months’ imprisonment and Maclean was automatically added to the child sex offender register.
His application for permanent name suppression fell "well short" of the mark, the judge said.
