still discovering<\/a>. <\/p>\nShe thought she had been strong throughout the offending years, figured her behaviour was normal, but now doesn\u2019t believe it will ever stop. <\/p>\n
\u201cI have been using physical pain to survive since childhood.<\/p>\n
\u201cI thought I was coping, but my body is making it clear that I am not.\u201d<\/p>\n
She was in a constant state of anxiety, causing her chest to be persistently tight, and her panic attacks were so intense she would vomit afterwards.<\/p>\n
\u201cI genuinely cannot remember the last time I breathed easily,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI am under relentless stress. There\u2019s no part of my day where I feel safe.\u201d<\/p>\n
Months after revealing Reeder\u2019s abuse, she said she almost gave up on life entirely.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t feel confident that things will get better.\u201d<\/p>\n
She told Reeder he had not only stolen her past but also her future.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe only thing left is justice, and I am asking for exactly that.\u201d<\/p>\n
According to the Healthpages\u2019 website, Reeder ran an \u201cintegrative medical clinic\u201d in Hamilton, at which he provided a range of options for chronic conditions \u201cfor which no suitable or acceptable mainstream option is available or successful\u201d.<\/p>\n
He had also previously worked in family medicine.<\/p>\n
The Medical Council has confirmed he had been a practising doctor for 54 years.<\/p>\n
At his sentencing, the court heard his offending stretched from the late 80s through to 2024.<\/p>\n
\u2018Sexually predatious and cruel\u2019<\/p>\n
Crown prosecutor James Lewis characterised Reeder\u2019s offending as \u201csexually predatious and cruel\u201d, where he used his \u201csuperior\u201d position as a doctor to offend against the victims.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe defendant was held in high esteem by these families,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Reeder\u2019s offending was consistent while he forced his victims to suffer in silence.<\/p>\n
Lewis pushed for a starting point of six years\u2019 jail with a 25% discount for his guilty pleas, which would send Reeder to prison.<\/p>\n
He argued Reeder didn\u2019t deserve any previous good character, given how long his offending had stretched.<\/p>\n
Commenting on Reeder\u2019s background and psychological reports, Lewis said any credit he was seeking for that should be offset by the fact \u201che is very much an intelligent man\u201d.<\/p>\n
![\"Dr]()
Dr William James Reeder in the dock at Hamilton District Court, which heard his offending was consistent and he forced his victims to suffer in silence. Photo \/ Belinda Feek<\/p>\n
\u201cHe is a doctor. He has been practising for a significant period of time. I understand that he is an obstetrician.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn order to become a doctor, there are stringent checks and balances to ensure that you are fit to practise,\u201d Lewis told the judge.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe defendant passed those checks and balances on many occasions over many years, and by virtue of his intelligence of the position that he held in the community as a doctor, as a leader, he very much knew that what he had done was wrong.\u201d<\/p>\n
Defence counsel Russell Boot argued home detention was appropriate, stating that, while not wanting to minimise his offending, it wasn\u2019t the worst of its kind.<\/p>\n
Reeder was also 79 years old, had no previous convictions, and had lost his employment and reputation.<\/p>\n
While the offending did stretch over multiple decades, sporadically, he should still get credit for his character before it began in his early 40s, Boot argued.<\/p>\n
He said a minimum period of imprisonment (MPI) was \u201cunwarranted\u201d given his age and Reeder had expressed a willingness to address his rehabilitative needs.<\/p>\n
He also had a number of \u201cmedical conditions\u201d that meant prison \u201cwould be harsher on him\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u2018Superficial remorse\u2019<\/p>\n
Judge Tompkins agreed with Lewis\u2019 description of Reeder\u2019s offending \u2013 that he \u201cused his superior position to sexually offend\u201d.<\/p>\n
He praised the victims for giving their statements in court, describing them as \u201cacts of very considerable courage\u201d. <\/p>\n
Judge Tompkins agreed with all of the Crown\u2019s submissions, adopting an overall starting point of six years\u2019 jail, before allowing a 25% discount for his guilty pleas.<\/p>\n
![\"A]()
A younger Dr William James Reeder pictured in his LinkedIn photo. <\/p>\n
He noted Reeder\u2019s comments in a pre-sentence report, which he said \u201crecords little, if any, insight into his offending and only superficial remorse\u201d.<\/p>\n
He\u2019d also written a letter to the court, but that was, too, chastised by the judge.<\/p>\n
\u201cIndeed, that letter, as I read it, is redolent with self-pity.<\/p>\n
\u201cAlthough he describes himself as being sick to the core to realise the impacts on his victims … in my view, that insight and remorse are best described as superficial.\u201d<\/p>\n
Judge Tompkins jailed Reeder for four-and-a-half years and imposed an MPI of 50%, citing the \u201cenormous and devastating\u201d effect and scale of his offending.<\/p>\n
The family of one of the victims told NZME that, given the length of Reeder\u2019s offending, they were concerned there were possibly more victims.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe urge anyone with any information or concerns to speak to the police,\u201d they said.<\/p>\n
\u2018A position of significant trust\u2019<\/p>\n
Responding to questions by NZME, Medical Council chairman Dr Kenneth Clark confirmed Reeder was first registered in New Zealand in 1971.<\/p>\n
His practising certificate expired in November 2025.<\/p>\n
Clark said the council\u2019s primary purpose was to ensure doctors \u201care competent and fit to practise\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cDoctors hold a position of significant trust.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe public is entitled to expect doctors to act with integrity \u2026 and uphold high standards of ethical and professional conduct.<\/p>\n
\u201cSerious sexual offending falls far below the conduct … and professionalism expected of doctors in Aotearoa, New Zealand and is directly relevant to council\u2019s consideration of a doctor\u2019s fitness to practise.\u201d<\/p>\n
The council would step in to raise concerns where it could, he said in a statement.<\/p>\n
\u201cPrivacy considerations limit what council can say about any individual notifications.\u201d<\/p>\n
The council and police can share information and when the council becomes aware of a criminal investigation, it liaises with the police.<\/p>\n
\u201cAt times we may not be able to take any action whilst a police investigation is underway in order not to prejudice this.\u201d<\/p>\n
However, while the criminal proceedings took precedence, the council would monitor any situation that posed a risk and \u201ctake regulatory action where necessary to address any risk to public safety\u201d.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The 79-year-old\u2019s youngest victim, whom he offended against from childhood through to her late teens, said she now…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":486384,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[1903,16574,9060,181,1952,2082,13838,6288,14641,111,43,139,69,1118,28703,1523,6289,244029,17703,544,427,223,1961,1529,8496,1455,10744],"class_list":["post-486383","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-zealand","tag-abuse","tag-bill","tag-decades","tag-details","tag-dr","tag-for","tag-girls","tag-hamilton","tag-jailed","tag-new-zealand","tag-news","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-of","tag-offending","tag-over","tag-readers","tag-reeder","tag-sexual","tag-some","tag-story","tag-the","tag-this","tag-three","tag-upset","tag-warning","tag-william"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/486383","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=486383"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/486383\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/486384"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=486383"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=486383"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=486383"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}