Samiuela Pauni Koula Vatuvei, 25, had his application for a discharge without conviction on two charges of indecent assault rejected by Judge Mark Callaghan in the Dunedin District Court yesterday.
Name suppression for the apprentice electrician was also lifted.
The court heard the two victims were socialising in an Octagon bar on December 10 last year — one marking her own graduation, while the other was celebrating her friend’s academic achievements.
But the joyous occasion would now forever be associated with Vatuvei’s sex attack, the judge said.
The first incident took place near the front of the bar as the woman was chatting with friends.
Vatuvei approached from behind and grabbed her buttocks, moving his fingers towards her genitalia, court documents said.
The victim immediately spun around and threw her drink over him.
Vatuvei, who had been at a friend’s wedding and had consumed an "enormous" volume of alcohol, walked away without further comment as the woman yelled at him.
"You weren’t to be deterred by that, however," the judge said.
Shortly afterwards, the defendant had moved to the rear of the establishment and struck again as the second victim was searching for her friends in the crowd.
Vatuvei stood directly in front of the woman and "forcefully" ran his hands over her genitalia.
The victim slapped the man and berated him as he walked away.
She informed security staff, who ejected Vatuvei from the bar and, after police inquiries, he was arrested a month later.
The victims both said they were now hyper-vigilant in social settings and felt significant shame over the attacks.
The first said her graduation would be forever "tainted".
The second remained devastated by the defendant’s brazen assault.
"As much as I try to block it out, it’s still so vivid," she said.
"I’m still shaken and I’m extremely disgusted with him."
Counsel Rhona Daysh said her client — a club rugby player and member of the Tongan Methodist Church — was deeply ashamed but had no recollection of his actions.
"This, essentially, is a fine, young man of excellent character and potential who has had one spectacular fall from grace," Ms Daysh said.
Ms Daysh provided advice from an immigration lawyer that showed Vatuvei would likely be served with a deportation notice if convicted and would be ineligible for permanent residency in New Zealand.
That, she said, would be "absolutely disastrous" given the defendant had no remaining family in Tonga.
But Judge Callaghan was unmoved.
"Does [the threat of deportation] outweigh the seriousness of the offence? I don’t believe it does."
Vatuvei was ordered to pay each victim $750, a sum the judge conceded was "a token gesture".
