The Southland man, who has permanent name suppression to protect the victim, was charged with one charge of sexual violation and 14 charges of indecent assault between June 25, 2010 and June 24, 2020.
The mother and grandfather of the girl read out their victim impact statements at the sentencing of the man in the Invercargill District Court today.
The grandfather said he now found it hard to hug his granddaughter.
‘’I feel very uncomfortable wrapping my arms around her due to what you’ve done to her,’’ he said.
‘’You’ve stolen something precious away from me as a grandfather.’’
He said what the man had done was a “downright disgrace” and he didn’t deserve to be called a father.
Karma would be somewhere ‘’down the track’’, he said.
When he looked back at photographs of his granddaughter, all he could think about now is what the man did to her, “not the loving memories of a beautiful little girl”.
The mother and ex-partner of the man said she was confused and angry at what had happened.
‘’It makes me feel sick to the stomach.’’
She believed her daughter had blocked out what had happened to her.
The girl did not want counselling, instead just wanted to talk to her mother and grandmother if she needed.
However her mother said counselling would always be available to her, when the time was right.
The three children were happy to change their names and understood they would not be seeing their father again, she said.
After finishing reading her statement she added; “I think you’re a f****n piece of s**t”.
Judge Russell Walker said the man had sexual trauma and other dysfunctional sexual behaviour from the abuse he suffered as a young person.
His offending had been prolonged and serious.
However, it was an unusual case as he had presented himself to police to confess what he had done.
The judge said a sentence of imprisonment would not guarantee the man would receive the rehabilitation he needed.
“This is a critical determination of the decision I’ve come to.’’
He sentenced the man to 12 months’ home detention and ordered him to pay $15,000 emotional harm reparation to the victim.
The judge also ordered the sentence be judicially monitored which means a report would be sent to the him every three months to ensure the man was complying with all conditions of his sentence. It meant if he did not, the man could be recalled and re-sentenced, he said.
