He was found guilty on multiple charges of sexual conduct with a child under 12 and sexual violation by unlawful sexual connection in a recent trial before Judge Sharp.
Today she handed down a lengthy jail term in the Hamilton District Court.
She said the victims’ trauma had been further magnified by the fact their mother had taken the man’s side; he still denied any wrongdoing.
In their victim impact statements, the children detailed the trauma they’d experienced, with one explaining how she’d been left suffering post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), nightmares and other mental health ailments after the man’s abuse when they were children. All three were aged 7 and under at the time of the offences.
Meanwhile, Judge Sharp told the man his offending was “sadistic and cruel”, and the fact the victims no longer had a relationship with their mother was “one of the worst effects of what has happened”.
‘She was a little girl who was terribly let down’
The offending lasted three years for the two younger children and four years for the oldest, victim A, who Judge Sharp said was offended against the worst.
That began when the man made her touch his genitals when her mother went out to get groceries. It escalated into oral sex, which would happen at least twice a week over several years.
“[Victim A] felt completely unable to tell anybody about what was happening to her, but the impact of it upon her is pretty obvious and certainly been described graphically in her victim impact statement,” the judge said.
“She was a little girl who was let down terribly by a sadistic and cruel man who was completely supported by the children’s mother.
“It’s not suggested [she] knew what was happening at the time.
“I have to say, on their behalf, however, that of course, once the children, later adults, made the disclosures of what he had done to them, unfortunately … she did not support them but supported him and continues to do so.
“It goes without saying that there is no relationship whatsoever between the three victims and their mother.
“And that, of course, would have to be one of the worst effects of what has happened.”
The man involved all three of the victims, two girls and one boy, in one incident where he forced one of the girls to perform an act on her brother.
“It’s fair to say that this is some of the worst offending of a sexual nature that I have seen, intra-family, in a very long time, and I do not wonder at all that the victims have been so badly impacted.”
‘My forgiveness doesn’t change what happened’
Judge Sharp said the victims’ impact statements made for “truly horrifying” reading.
“This is a completely fractured family.
“They have been actively disbelieved by their mother, which is, sadly, often the case in familial sexual offending.”
The statement from male victim, B, told his stepfather that deep down the man knew the truth despite denying the offending.
In recent years, the victim said he had learned about forgiveness.
“In order to continue healing… I choose to forgive you for what you did to me as a child.
“My forgiveness does not change what happened or the harm it caused.”
‘Very brave, very sensible’
Judge Sharp remarked on the victim’s stance, not for the offender’s sake, but it showed his “worth and merit as a person”.
“That is a very brave, very sensible and very encouraging determination and one that I can’t imagine was easy to reach, but I commend you for it, [B], because … you know that to have any hope of a more reasonable future, you need to find it in your heart to forgive.
“I remark on that, not for the sake of [offender], but it shows your worth and merit as a person.”
The judge also expressed her “greatest sympathy” to the other two victims.
She also found the man to be a “controlling disciplinarian”.
Given the man had already been found guilty on physical violence charges and sentenced to 16 months’ jail, Judge Sharp took that off her initial jail term of 16 years and six months.
She then jailed him for 15 years and one month.
Belinda Feek is an Open Justice reporter based in Waikato. She has worked at NZME for 11 years and has been a journalist for 22.