He was charged after returning to New Zealand more than a year after fleeing when police began an investigation.<\/p>\n
Judge Tony Snell cut him little slack in the sternly delivered sentence watched by the victim while embraced in the hug of a support person. <\/p>\n
Mohammed Aziz was sentenced to nine years in jail on a representative charge of rape and a charge of possession of an objectionable publication. Photo \/ Tracy Neal<\/p>\n
\u201cI can say little more than you have physically and psychologically harmed her in the worst ways possible,\u201d Judge Snell said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s harm that will go on and on for years to come.\u201d<\/p>\n
Monument to \u2018incredible courage\u2019<\/p>\n
The teen\u2019s support person said in a victim impact statement she read to the court, that she hoped the teen could look back on this day as a monument to her incredible courage.<\/p>\n
It followed the teen\u2019s own statement, in which she described the deep, ongoing trauma, and what it was like being a child \u201ctip-toeing through landmines\u201d, always holding her breath.<\/p>\n
\u201cI learned how to read a room before I learned to read a book,\u201d she said..<\/p>\n
Aziz stifled sobs from where he sat nearby in the dock, listening to the teen speak of the grief at having lost the person she might have become.<\/p>\n
\u201cYour body remembers what your mind tries to forget.<\/p>\n
\u201cSome days I don\u2019t feel like a person \u2013 just a body moving through the hours,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
The break-up<\/p>\n
The court heard the girl was upset she had broken up with her boyfriend and confided in Aziz, a man known to her, about what had happened. <\/p>\n
He suggested they go to a room to talk about it further, to prevent others from hearing. <\/p>\n
As she sat on a bed, she told him how sad and heartbroken she was. <\/p>\n
He comforted her by hugging her and rubbing her back, then removed her clothing and raped her.<\/p>\n
Later that evening the teen emailed her school teacher, asking him if she could talk to him about something \u201cserious and important\u201d. <\/p>\n
The police were notified and she disclosed historical sexual violations<\/a>, later confirmed as having occurred regularly for almost six years.<\/p>\n She also told police Aziz had taken pictures and videos of her in the shower. <\/p>\n Days later, as the victim\u2019s mother messaged the man, he told her he had \u201cfound naked images of the victim\u201d in a folder in his phone. <\/p>\n After his home was searched in April 2024, he gave a statement to the police<\/a> but denied any sexual activity took place.<\/p>\n He provided a DNA sample to police, but the next day he drove to Christchurch<\/a> and left the country. <\/p>\n Clothing worn by the victim at the time of the offending was seized and subsequently forensically examined.<\/p>\n Aziz\u2019s DNA was found on the clothing and on the victim after a medical examination. <\/p>\n He was arrested at Auckland Airport<\/a> on his return in August 2025, more than a year after he fled, Crown prosecutor Sophie O\u2019Donoghue said.<\/p>\n \u201cThis was a long period of absence in which he prioritised his own needs,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n The Crown, in seeking a 12-year prison starting point, pointed to the frequency of rapes over a long time and the ongoing premeditation involved. <\/p>\n O\u2019Donoghue said Aziz was not entitled to any discount for remorse because he had minimised what occurred and insulted the victim by claiming he had raped her \u201conly once\u201d.<\/p>\n She said Aziz said in a pre-sentence report he intended to undertake rehabilitation, but his comments to the report writer \u201chad not scratched the surface of the offending\u201d.<\/p>\n No \u2018causal connection\u2019<\/p>\n Defence lawyer Amanda Godwin achieved the 25% discount sought for Aziz\u2019s guilty plea, which spared the victim from a trial.<\/p>\n She said Aziz wanted to engage in a sex offender\u2019s rehabilitation programme, had expressed shame and insight into the harm caused to the victim, and had returned to New Zealand to face the charges.<\/p>\n Judge Snell refused to accept a causal connection between Aziz\u2019s offending and claims he had been raised in an environment where he suffered abuse.<\/p>\n \u201cCan you explain how something which happened 40 years earlier coincided with him repeatedly raping this girl?\u201d he asked.<\/p>\n Judge Snell said in setting a 12-year prison starting point that Aziz\u2019s possession of the objectionable material <\/a>was an aggravating factor, and he was sentenced to nine months in prison for that, to be served concurrently.<\/p>\n Guilty plea discount \u2018generous\u2019<\/p>\n He declined any discount for the potential impact of imprisonment on Aziz\u2019s child.<\/p>\n Judge Snell said Aziz had no hesitation abandoning the child when he fled New Zealand.<\/p>\n While he may not be able to have any relationship with the child in the foreseeable future, \u201cthat does not appear to be a bad thing\u201d, Judge Snell said.<\/p>\n He said in arriving at a nine-year prison term, the 25% discount for Aziz\u2019s guilty plea was \u201cgenerous\u201d.<\/p>\n A protection order sought by the victim was granted and Aziz was automatically registered as a child sex offender<\/a>.<\/p>\nCrown prosecutor in Nelson-Tasman, Sophie O’Donoghue, pictured in the Nelson District Court. Photo \/ Tracy Neal<\/p>\n