A Southland man who claimed sex with an underage girl was a case of “mutual attraction” has been jailed for more than two years.
George Omelvena, 25, appeared in the Invercargill District Court yesterday after pleading guilty to three charges of sexual conduct with an under-16, which Judge Mark Williams said incorporated “the full gamut” of violations.
Counsel Scott Williamson stressed his client had no criminal history, positive prospects of rehabilitation and that a sentence of home detention should be imposed.
But the judge underscored the “victim-blaming” attitudes of Omelvena which arose during an interview with Probation.
The court heard the defendant claimed the acts were consensual, that there was “mutual attraction” and even suggested the victim was the instigator.
“While I accept there’s some remorse for what you have done to her, in my view, there’s also a degree of remorse for the position you’ve found yourself in,” Judge Williams said.
The victim read her statement through tears at the hearing’s outset detailing the vast changes in her life since the sexual ordeal.
“I didn’t choose panic attacks, flashbacks, or the fear that comes out of nowhere. My life has become about trying to cope with something that should never have happened to me,” she said.
The teenager had since been diagnosed with PTSD.
“This was not a mistake he made, this was a choice he made, a choice that has followed me every day,” the girl said. “I am still a teenager but I will live with this forever.”
The first incident took place in July 2024 when Omelvena sent the victim a photo of his genitalia over social media.
When she confronted him and told him “you can’t do that”, the defendant demanded she remove her clothes, then pulled her on to the bed.
“You wanted it,” he told her.
The second episode came the following month when Omelvena woke the girl from her sleep and again violated her.
The final trauma occurred in January last year.
Crown prosecutor Mary-Jane Thomas stressed the seven-month span across which the sexual abuse took place and the range of acts committed by the defendant.
Judge Williams concurred.
“It was not one-off offending on your part, it was persistent,” he said.
The Probation report, the judge said, caused concern.
“You’ve tried, to some extent, to blame the victim here rather than accepting full responsibility for what you have done,” he said.
He pointed to the victim-impact statements as evidence of the harm Omelvena had caused.
One was also read by the teenager’s mother.
“Anyone who thinks it is acceptable to blame a . . . child for being the victim of a predator should be ashamed. Yet even now, you continue to act as though you have done nothing wrong. The only person you seem concerned about in all of this is yourself,” she said.
“What you have done has changed our lives forever, and that weight is yours to carry. I hope it haunts you forever.”
Omelvena was jailed for 25 months and as a result he was added to the Child Sex Offender Register.
He was also ordered to pay the victim $3200.