The defendant, who appeared in the Dunedin District Court yesterday, was granted permanent name suppression by Judge David Robinson despite the man’s former partner and victim’s mother wanting his identity to be revealed.
The man — aged in his 30s — pleaded guilty to three charges of doing an indecent act and one of sexual violation by unlawful sexual connection, crimes that began when his daughter was just 4 years old.
The victim’s mother said she remained "full of anger and disbelief" since last year when charges were laid.
"You violated her, stole her innocence and it’s something she will never get back," she said.
"You broke my heart and shattered me in a way I never thought was possible."
The woman had reduced her hours of work, and both she and her daughter continued to feel anxious about the girl’s safety.
"It’s made me question my mothering. I didn’t and couldn’t protect her enough ... Now I have to live with the feeling of having failed as a mum," she told the court.
"I worry about her every step. I want to protect her every moment."
The woman said the ordeal had "destroyed" the victim.
The court heard the sex acts began in 2018 in the family home and in 2022, the defendant used his illicit desires as a bargaining tool.
On one occasion the victim asked for permission to go to her friend’s house.
The man agreed but only if she played "the special game".
An initial probation report made it unclear whether the man was remorseful for his actions.
But a psychotherapist’s report shed more light on the defendant who was diagnosed as suffering an intellectual disability.
The clinician said the man’s risk of reoffending was likely low but that could be more fully explored if he was made a compulsory care recipient.
Prison was not the right response, he said.
Judge Robinson agreed but was concerned the defendant appeared to minimise the extent of his offending during conversations with the therapist.
Under the Intellectual Disability (Compulsory Care and Rehabilitation) Act patients can be treated under a "supervised" or "secure" designation, the latter offering greater restrictions on their freedom.
Though the clinician advised the defendant should be made a supervised patient — that he said might allow for greater access to rehabilitation — the judge took the more restrictive option, which he imposed for two years.
The man’s progress at the facility would be regularly reviewed and his status would change if his risk level changed, the court heard.
His partner said she still could not believe what had happened to her daughter.
"She’s sad, she’s broken, she doesn’t understand," she said.
"What gets me is she feels she is to blame. She’s taken on a responsibility that’s not hers to own."
Judge Robinson underscored that.
"She’s not to blame. The person to blame is sitting in front of me in the dock."
The defendant was added to the Child Sex Offender Register and ordered to pay the victim $20,000.
