A 16-year-old boy has been jailed for three years for raping and sexually abusing a six-year-old girl - his foster mother's grand-daughter.
The youth had been sent up from Youth Court to the Christchurch District Court for sentencing after admitting a charge of sexually violating the girl, and a representative charge of indecently assaulting her over a period of about two months in September and October, the Christchurch Court News website reported.
The boy pleaded guilty after his arrest in January and today Judge David Saunders imposed a three-year jail term.
His foster mother demanded the boy look at her when she read her victim impact statement in court today.
"Look at me. I can't believe what you did and I really can't forgive it."
The woman told of her own constant headaches and anxiety, and the effects on the girl.
It angered her when she heard reports that her foster son was being a good boy. "I know he is not usually a good boy."
Judge Saunders granted the convicted boy permanent name suppression so that the sentencing would not identify the girl.
He recommended that he have one-on-one counselling during his sentence and hoped that a sexual offenders' treatment programme could be arranged for him on his release.
He is too young for the Kia Marama sex offenders' programme, which has a minimum age of 20 years.
Defence counsel Alister James acknowledged the comments in the pre-sentence report that the youth was obsessed with pornography.
The girl had been taken away from the home after the youth was caught showing her explicit internet pornography.
She was later allowed to visit the home again and the indecencies occurred, as well as the rape.
