Abuser jailed after chance encounter at mall
A girl’s chance encounter while visiting a shopping mall with her mother has led to the man who sexually abused her beginning a six-year six-month jail term.
The girl had been abused by Boyd Napier Roberts, now aged 61, when she was aged eight to ten years in Christchurch and rural Canterbury.
She heard later that he had been jailed for being in possession of objectionable computer images.
When she was with her mother at a shopping mall, they saw Roberts after his release from prison and the girl commented to her mother that he might still be in jail if she had said something earlier.
That led to Roberts being arrested and his eventual conviction at a Christchurch District Court jury trial on two charges of unlawful sexual connection with the girl and three of doing an indecent act.
The offending involved penetration with his fingers and touching the girl’s bottom and breast areas, and getting her to touch his penis.
The victim is not related to Roberts.
At Robert’s sentencing, Judge Brian Callaghan described the girl as “a brave young woman”.
He said: “She stood up steadfastly to the innuendo in court that what she was saying was made up. The jury clearly concluded that she was truthful and reliable.”
The jury found Roberts not guilty on three charges.
Defence counsel Allister Davis asked the judge to grant a reduction in sentence for Roberts’ late expression of remorse. The Crown accepted that proposition – even after guilty verdicts – because it meant some closure for the victim and it meant there would be no appeal against conviction.
Judge Callaghan did reduce the sentence and jailed Roberts for six-and-a-half years.
He said the effects on the victim had been significant. She struggled with relationships with men and was apprehensive in the company of men. The offending had knocked her self-confidence, and affected her school studies and her family situation.
He expected the effects of the abuse would be life-long for her.
Category: News
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