WARNING: This story discusses sexual assault and may be distressing for some readers

A teenager who raped two girls and indecently assaulted a third has at most been ordered to pay $3000 as punishment for the sexual offending.

Over six months, he raped one girl while she slept and then grabbed her by the hair and made her perform oral sex on him, he took another’s virginity when he forced sex on her despite her clear opposition, and he touched another girl’s privates without her consent, while saying “for the boys”.

The impacts are clear for the girl who was raped in her sleep. She told the court she continues to bear the weight of the emotional scars; she is angry, suffers nightmares, battles depression, and struggles to trust people.

The teen offender was charged with two counts of rape, four of indecent assault and two of unlawful sexual connection, all of which were proven and dealt with in the Youth Court.

While serious offences such as rape can be transferred to the District Court, where the youth would receive a more severe sentence, Judge Brandt Shortland ruled this case, “by the finest of margins” should stay in the Youth Court.

“I considered it was in the public’s interest this matter stay in this court and it should be dealt with in an appropriate way,” the judge said in his ruling, stating the principles of the Oranga Tamariki Act guided him.

“ ... it was probably because of the fact you were [under 16] years of age at the time, in my words a boy, and that probably saved you.”

The teen was sentenced to pay each of his three victims a $1000 emotional harm payment.

While the court is required to impose the least restrictive outcome in the circumstances of any case, sentences available to the Youth Court range from charges being discharged, a fine, reparation, ordering the teen to attend a programme, community work, supervision, or a maximum of six months custody in a youth residence.

In the District Court, the maximum penalty for rape is 20 years’ imprisonment.

Crown Law would not comment on whether it had received the case for consideration of an appeal against the sentence.

In his judgment, Judge Shortland said a sentence of supervision would not add any value and, concerning the ordered reparation, the value did not matter: “It is never going to be right but at least that is something and it is within reason”.

“It is not compensation for what happened, but it is a gesture of goodwill of some sort, to try and help the person out and that is what I see it.”

Judge Brandt Shortland sentenced the teen in November last year. Photo / NZME

While the teen’s sentencing took place in November last year, the judge’s findings were publicly released last month and NZME was subsequently granted permission to report the proceedings.

Because the matter was heard in the Youth Court, the offender cannot be identified.

According to the judgment, the teen’s offending began in February 2021 when he asked his first victim if she wanted a “cuddle and a kiss”. She rebuffed his advances and so he climbed into bed with her, spooned her and made the comment “for the boys”. The girl responded “No”.

He then put his hand inside her top and touched her breast, and then inside her underwear where he touched her genitals.

The second incident happened in April 2021 at the offender’s address where he asked his second victim to have sex with him.

When she declined, he suggested she perform oral sex on him. Again she opposed and the teen offender went to sleep in a different room.

However, the victim woke in the early hours of the morning to find the teen having sex with her. She left the room crying. Shortly after, he forced her to give him oral sex by grabbing her hair from behind her head and pushing her toward him.

The final incident occurred sometime between June and July 2021 at the teen offender’s house. He laid next to his third victim and asked her multiple times for sex, which she continued to reject. He then pulled her pants down and raped her.

In his judgment, Judge Shortland said he considered the sexual offending against all victims very serious.

He noted the significant breach of trust and the emotional toll the offending had taken on each of the girls.

“The impact of your offending has been clear right through this whole process but again today and the reality is that it will continue on for each young victim,” he said.

“Who knows how long each young person will have to wear it.”

However, Judge Shortland said the Oranga Tamariki Act was clear when it came to sentencing young people and that it was about care, intervention and addressing the offender’s wellbeing and needs as well as those of the victims.

He noted the offender had been on bail for two and a half years, had shown remorse, had no prior offending and had undergone rehabilitation for 18 months. He also has an apprenticeship and people who remain supportive of him.

“You certainly have a better and a healthy understanding of a relationship with young women than previously and that has now been clearly outlined in the information before me,” the judge said.

“At the end of the day, you will have to live with your actions and I think you have done what you can within this jurisdiction to be accountable for that.”

Following the sentencing, Debbi Tohill, chief executive of Rape Prevention Education told NZME it was reassuring to see the judge in this case acknowledging the female victims.

“Judgement can be weighted towards the offender and these these incidents are likely to have long-ranging impacts on the survivors and the outcome of this case may be hard for them to accept,” she said.

Tohill said her organisation works from a prevention perspective when it comes to sexual violence between young people and said that consent was often a significant issue.

“We hear all too often of young people saying no or indicating that they are not interested in doing something sexual, and yet the person doing the harm ignores this,” she said.

“Good-quality education about consent and healthy relationships is essential for our young people and may go some way to stemming the very high rates of sexual violence which occurs.”

The issue of sexual assault committed by young offenders came under intense public scrutiny last year when Tauranga teenager Jayden Meyer was sentenced in the District Court to nine months of home detention for the rape of four 15-year-old girls and the sexual violation of another. He was 16 at the time.

The sentence drew the ire of the public, sparking numerous public protests followed by Deputy Solicitor General Madeleine Laracy seeking leave to appeal the sentence in favour of prison time, six weeks outside the statutory window for appeal.

But High Court Justice Sally Fitzgerald, who considered the application, declined the bid for an appeal on the basis that with Meyer attending a sexual violence rehabilitation programme, the logistics of managing this within prison would be difficult.

SEXUAL HARM

Where to get help:

If it's an emergency and you feel that you or someone else is at risk, call 111.
If you've ever experienced sexual assault or abuse and need to talk to someone, contact Safe to Talk confidentially, any time 24/7:
• Call 0800 044 334
• Text 4334
• Email [email protected]
• For more info or to web chat visit safetotalk.nz
Alternatively contact your local police station - click here for a list.
If you have been sexually assaulted, remember it's not your fault.

Jeremy Wilkinson is an Open Justice reporter based in Manawatū covering courts and justice issues with an interest in tribunals. He has been a journalist for nearly a decade and has worked for NZME since 2022.