One was young enough that they still sucked their thumb.<\/p>\n
The other was lured with lollies and money. Once, the victim was filmed naked in exchange for a unicorn toy. <\/p>\n
Wallace was sentenced in the Nelson District Court<\/a> this week to five years and three months in prison on eight charges of indecently assaulting a child aged under 12, five charges of doing an indecent act on a child under 12, two charges of unlawful sexual connection and a charge of making an objectionable publication.<\/p>\n The justice sought by the first victim, who described a childhood marked by years that felt like \u201cwalking on broken glass\u201d, might not have come to fruition if not for the parent of the second victim coming forward.<\/p>\n The parent said in their victim impact statement, read on their behalf by Crown<\/a> prosecutor Jackson Webber, that they \u201chated\u201d Wallace for making them question the years they had known him.<\/p>\n The parent described Wallace as \u201cvile\u201d and as insignificant as a \u201ctiny grain of sand in a vast ocean\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cI will forget you, but never forgive the smallest man who ever lived,\u201d they said.<\/p>\n Arrest follows second victim complaint<\/p>\n Wallace was arrested after police searched his home in the Tasman area in January 2025.<\/p>\n The first victim, now in their late 20s, had gone to the police two years earlier, prompted by a cathartic response to the sudden death of a close family member.<\/p>\n \u201cAll of this trauma, all of this grief came out and I decided to go to the police,\u201d the victim told NZME.<\/p>\n Until then, the victim had been unable to fathom that what had happened was desperately wrong.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen I first told somebody and their reaction was so extreme, that made me realise that my childhood wasn\u2019t like everyone else\u2019s, like this was so normalised that I thought that everyone was experiencing this.\u201d <\/p>\n The police<\/a> explained the challenges inherent in such historical offending, and the difficulties in proving the allegations.<\/p>\n \u201cSo I decided to withdraw my statement, but they did tell me that because I did my interview \u2013 my video interview, that they had to notify him that someone raised a complaint.\u201d<\/p>\n Two years later, police got back in touch to say someone else had come forward, and the case was reopened.<\/p>\n The victim was devastated to learn someone else had been harmed, but also felt empowered. <\/p>\n \u201cI was very, very determined in thinking, \u2018okay, I\u2019ve got him this time\u2019, because I never thought that justice would be served.\u201d<\/p>\n This week, the victim finally confronted Wallace, and delivered the story they had long wanted others to hear.<\/p>\n \u2018Calculated and deliberate\u2019<\/p>\n Wallace committed his crimes at empty campgrounds and quiet roadsides. <\/p>\n \u201cIt was calculated, and it was deliberate,\u201d the victim told the court.<\/p>\n The abuse didn\u2019t stop when the physical acts ended, but has followed them into their adult life \u2013 in the nightmares they still wake from, the flashbacks that play on loop, and in the anxiety that grips when they are alone.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s in the fear of the dark that grabs at me, and in the shame that I carry that was never mine to bear.\u201d<\/p>\n The victim also described feeling that their life had no value.<\/p>\n \u201cIt has taken me years of pain, therapy and rebuilding to understand that none of this was my fault. It is yours,\u201d the victim told Wallace as he bowed his head in the dock.<\/p>\n \u2018Scraped through\u2019<\/p>\n The victim told NZME that despite everything, they had scraped through, and now had a good job and relative stability.<\/p>\n \u201cI grew up poor, so I didn\u2019t really have the opportunity to go to university. I went from job to job to job and managed to elevate my skills. I think that\u2019s how I\u2019ve got where I am.\u201d<\/p>\nOne of Neil Wallace’s victims was young enough that they still sucked their thumb. The other was lured with lollies and money. Photo \/ 123rf<\/p>\n