More than 70 sex acts against a young girl, including two rapes, have landed a Dunedin man in prison for a decade.
John Ngapoe Mehau (41) was confronted by the victim's family about his repeated offending and it was agreed that he would leave the country.
However, he returned from the Cook Islands earlier this year and was charged by police.
Mehau pleaded guilty to two counts of rape and four of indecent assault, which comprised lewd acts that occurred sometimes as often as three times a week between 2010 and 2012.
Judge Kevin Phillips said the impact on the victim had been ''incalculable''.
''She lost, really in her head, her entire childhood,'' he said. ''She lost her confidence, her innocence, her ability to trust people ... She lies in bed at night and has flashbacks.''
But the teenager was intent on moving on from the nightmare.
''What she's got as she moves through her years is a strength. She wants me to tell you, you might've taken her childhood but you haven't taken her dignity and you haven't taken her future.''
The Dunedin District Court yesterday heard how the incidents increased in seriousness as Mehau's sexual deviance descended.
The charges incorporated at least 70 specific episodes, Crown prosecutor Craig Power said.
The first rape took place when he went into a bedroom where the girl was watching television.
He locked the door behind him.
''She tried to escape and you prevented her.
'You used your body to hold her down,'' Judge Phillips said.
Mehau stopped when it was clear the victim was in pain, but he continued to perform less invasive acts until he was satisfied.
''She was left alone in the bedroom,'' the judge said. ''She was upset, crying, scared, huddled under a blanket cuddling a pillow.''
The defendant came back into her room and told her not to tell anyone because he might go to jail.
The second such incident in January 2012 followed a similar pattern and on this occasion Mehau put his hand over the girl's mouth to stifle her pained noises.
It was revealed yesterday that it was not the first time the man had been jailed for sex crimes.
In 2001, he was sentenced to three and a-half years for sexual connection and indecent assault.
Mehau's most recent offending marked an escalation, the judge said, and he was assessed as a high risk of reoffending.
He told Probation in a pre-sentence interview that the reason he violated the girl was because he was going through financial and relationship difficulties at the time.
He had not considered how it could affect her, he admitted.
Defence counsel Sarah Saunderson-Warner said her client had previously received treatment for his predilections and was motivated to do more.
He wanted to meet the victim in person to apologise but that had been deemed unsuitable by restorative-justice co-ordinators, the court heard.
Mehau was sentenced to 10 years and 1 month imprisonment.
Judge Phillips imposed a minimum non-parole period of five years.
