WARNING: This story is about sexual abuse and can be shocking.
A man who raped his granddaughters in their bed, shower, a shed and his car told them he would give them up for adoption if they told anyone.
The defendant, who has name suppression to protect the identities of his victims, started when the victims were four or five years old and continued for about 10 years.
The defendant appeared this week before a jury of seven women and six men in the Palmerston North District Court, charging 67 charges of rape, unlawful sexual association and committing indecent acts against his two granddaughters and two of their friends.
Today he unexpectedly pleaded guilty before the girls gave their evidence.
The crime initially came to light in 2014 after one of the girl’s friends came to stay at the house.
There she was made to watch porn and watch her boyfriend have sex with her grandfather and was invited to join their “sex club” where flavored condoms and sex toys were discussed.
The girl told her mother what had happened and she was questioned by the police in 2014, as were the granddaughters.
However, it wasn’t until 2020 that both girls gave full interviews about their grandfather’s abuse to the police and a case was filed against him.
“When she was 20, she gave another interview, she finally talked about the magnitude and depravity of her grandfather’s crime against her,” Crown Prosecutor Guy Carter told the jury on Monday.
“She had had enough and decided she wanted to tell the whole story.”
Carter told the jury that the Crown case would outline how the defendant abused his granddaughters for ten years, taking pictures of them, making them watch porn with him, and raping them in almost every room of the house they were in. would come to stay.
The girls stayed with him often and sometimes for long periods of time and Carter said he would tell them he would give them up for adoption if they told anyone about the abuse he subjected them to.
“She describes serious, explicit and disturbing violations. It’s not easy to listen to,” Carter said.
“He used his own granddaughter as a sexual toy to do whatever he wanted.”
The defendant initially faced 67 charges and the trial was set for a total of three weeks in the Palmerston North District Court.
That process, however, only came to selecting the jury and opening statements from the crown before it was adjourned early Monday afternoon.
The defendant was flanked by two police officers who listened to the Crown bring his case against him, sometimes shaking their heads.
Today the husband’s wife sat on one side of the public gallery, and as he entered the docks, the defendant said ‘I love you’ to her. She was not with the defendant when the crime took place.
Across the gallery sat one of his granddaughters surrounded by family. The other girl watched from the court’s video link system.
Today he pleaded guilty to a series of sexual charges against his two granddaughters and against two of their friends who had come to visit.
Judge Jonathan Krebs pronounced his convictions, discharged the jury and kept the defendant in custody until February next year.
SEXUAL DAMAGE: Where to Get Help:
If you have ever experienced sexual assault or abuse and would like to talk to someone, please contact
safe to talk
confidential, always 24/7:
• Call 0800 044 334
• Text 4334
• E-mail [email protected]
• Go for more info or to visit webchat
safetotalk.nz
You can also contact your local police station –
click here for a list.
If you have been sexually abused, remember that it is not your fault.
– By Jeremy Wilkinson