Tauranga District Court<\/a>.<\/p>\n\u2018Silence enabled you,\u2019 says victim<\/p>\n
Smith was in his late teens in the 1970s, but already married and with a young child, when he offended against a 9-year-old girl in the South Island.<\/p>\n
Smith raped the girl on several occasions. The girl was taken into a shed, where she was pinned down by Smith.<\/p>\n
She was also made to perform sexual acts on him.<\/p>\n
Afterwards, he told her not to tell anyone, or she would be in trouble.<\/p>\n
At sentencing, the woman read a victim impact statement in which she described the feelings of shame she had felt as a child.<\/p>\n
She had blamed herself for not speaking up sooner and for not stopping him.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut I was a child. I had no voice. No power. No choice. I now understand this. And none of this was ever my fault.\u201d<\/p>\n
She said at that time, those around her had been \u201ctaught to keep secrets\u201d. <\/p>\n
\u201cBut that silence enabled you,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
As she grew up, the trauma of the offending continued to affect her.<\/p>\n
\u201cI hated the weak, vulnerable girl I once was who was trodden on, so I built myself into someone who was fiercely strong, invincible, untouchable,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
After decades living with the secret, she \u201cbroke\u201d and hit \u201crock bottom\u201d. <\/p>\n
After being confronted by memories of what had happened, there came a time when she just wanted to run away, move overseas, leave her husband and family behind and start again.<\/p>\n
However, the impending birth of a grandchild stopped her.<\/p>\n
She said when she held the child in her arms, she realised she could \u201cget through this\u201d.<\/p>\n
She wanted to be a \u201cbetter version\u201d of herself, to show her mokopuna that \u201ctheir Nanny was strong, brave, courageous and had so much love to give\u201d.<\/p>\n
She had chosen to speak up, not just for herself, but for others who might have been hurt and for anyone \u201cstill living with the shame and silence\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd most of all, for the little girl I once was, who lived in fear and cried silent tears into her pillow at night.\u201d<\/p>\n
In her statement, she shared her appreciation for the police and Crown, who had believed her \u2013 especially Detective Darren Galbraith and Crown Solicitor Anna Pollett \u2013 but said the court process had taken a \u201chuge toll\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cCourt delay after court delay and then a court abandonment, which was also nearly my final straw to give up,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
But she was pleased she persevered, though she said her motivation hadn\u2019t been to see the man locked up.<\/p>\n
\u201cI didn\u2019t even care if you never even went to jail. An admission and apology would probably have been enough. All I ever wanted was for you to be made accountable.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u2018Taken her about 50 years to work out that none of this was her fault\u2019, says judge<\/p>\n
At sentencing, Judge Christopher Harding told Smith his actions had an \u201cenormous, significant and awful effect on [the victim\u2019s] life\u201d. <\/p>\n
\u201cShe tried to report it on earlier occasions but couldn\u2019t,\u201d the judge said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt has taken her about 50 years to work out that none of this was her fault, and of course it was not.\u201d<\/p>\n
The judge noted the vulnerability of the victim, who had been a young child with \u201cno hope of escaping you or the situation\u201d.<\/p>\n
Judge Harding noted that because the offending took place in the 1970s, he had to apply the sentencing tariffs from the time, not those that exist now.<\/p>\n
The Crown sought a starting point of six and a half years, noting there could be a small discount for an emotional harm payment, which had already been made, of $20,000.<\/p>\n
\u201cI acknowledge that, but it is not so much a reflection of remorse, in my view, as a reflection of reality,\u201d Judge Harding said.<\/p>\n
Judge Harding agreed to the Crown\u2019s proposed starting point, and turned his attention to any discounts available, particularly for Smith\u2019s young age at the time.<\/p>\n
He said although Smith had been very young when the sexual assaults happened, he was not \u201ca callow youth inexperienced in ways of the world\u201d. <\/p>\n
Smith\u2019s lawyer, Catherine Harold, had earlier highlighted that regardless of Smith\u2019s marital status at the time, it was \u201cwell recognised that the brain is still forming and the decision-making isn\u2019t at the level of someone 25 years of age and up\u201d.<\/p>\n
However, the judge had a different view, and said any discount should be limited.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou were employed, you had a wife, you had a young child. Those responsibilities which you had accepted, in my view, mitigate the amount of discount for youthful lack of thinking which might otherwise be available,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n
Judge Harding also said Smith\u2019s health issues could be \u201cactively dealt with within the prison system\u201d.<\/p>\n
After discounts were applied for youth, the emotional harm payment, and impact of imprisonment, Smith received an end sentence of five years\u2019 imprisonment.<\/p>\n
Judge Harding made an order for emotional harm reparation of $20,000, but acknowledged it had already been paid.<\/p>\n
The judge became visibly emotional when he commended the victim for her bravery, for being able to stand and read her victim impact statement in court.<\/p>\n
\u2018I am now free,\u2019 says woman<\/p>\n
Speaking to NZME after sentencing, the woman described complex feelings about the end of the court process, given the elderly man had been sent to prison.<\/p>\n
She also spoke of the help she had needed before she had felt strong enough to report Smith: GP visits, discussions with her family, counselling sessions, and conversations with trusted friends who listened to her.<\/p>\n
She\u2019d experienced years of anger that would bubble to the surface when she didn\u2019t expect it, triggered by things she hadn\u2019t processed.<\/p>\n
She had grown up to be tough, and fiercely protective of her own children, reflecting that she \u201cprobably went too far at times\u201d because she was \u201cnever protected\u201d as a child.<\/p>\n
But now she felt proud of how far she had come.<\/p>\n
At the conclusion of her victim impact statement, she had reflected on this.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think that little girl that I once was, can now see, none of this was her fault … I now know I am brave, I am content, and I am true to myself. And most importantly, I am now free.\u201d<\/p>\n
Hannah Bartlett is a Tauranga-based Open Justice reporter at NZME. She previously covered court and local government for the Nelson Mail, and before that was a radio reporter at Newstalk ZB.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"She had worried about her \u201cbody being ruined\u201d, about her family finding out, and that if she said…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":95898,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[13212,24752,17704,2511,868,181,8912,2082,6868,14641,111,43,139,69,51246,17703,16189,427,1961,1455,6656,102,1530,4741],"class_list":{"0":"post-307905","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-zealand","8":"tag-13212","9":"tag-ago","10":"tag-assault","11":"tag-child","12":"tag-deals","13":"tag-details","14":"tag-distressing","15":"tag-for","16":"tag-girl","17":"tag-jailed","18":"tag-new-zealand","19":"tag-news","20":"tag-newzealand","21":"tag-nz","22":"tag-raping","23":"tag-sexual","24":"tag-smith","25":"tag-story","26":"tag-this","27":"tag-warning","28":"tag-warren","29":"tag-with","30":"tag-years","31":"tag-young"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/307905","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=307905"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/307905\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/95898"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=307905"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=307905"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=307905"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}