A Mokoreta man’s indecent assault of a teenaged bar worker as she drove him home in a courtesy van was prolonged and "increasingly intrusive", a judge says.
Sentencing Ben Oliver Croat, 40, in the Gore District Court on Wednesday, Judge Raoul Neave said the 18-year-old victim was effectively "trapped" during the ordeal.
Over the course of an evening at the Three Rivers Hotel in Wyndham on February 16, Croat and other patrons made remarks about the bottoms of the victim and another female bar worker until another patron told them to stop.
About 11.30pm, as the victim began driving the defendant and another patron home, the defendant reached forward from his seat directly behind her and began rubbing her arm.
During a journey lasting more than an hour because of his refusal to tell the victim where he lived, his behaviour continued to degenerate.
Court documents say Croat began touching her crotch through her clothing, and attempted to put his hand down the front of her pants.
Despite the victim repeatedly moving his hand off her body, he continued to "squeeze and grab" her crotch and try to put his hand down her pants in an increasingly persistent and aggressive manner. Such was the force used, the victim could "feel his fingers about to enter her vagina".
As Croat continued to refuse to give his address, the "fearful" victim drove towards where she and the other patron believed he lived.
When the other patron told the defendant they should both get out at his address, an angry Croat refused.
The victim then drove to where she thought the defendant lived, stopping outside several properties and asking him each time if he lived there.
When he repeatedly refused to say, she finally drove up a driveway and opened the door for him.
Croat got out and "stood in the driveway staring" at her as she drove away.
Counsel John Fraser said it was clear the defendant had committed a serious and prolonged assault on a young victim.
Since his arrest, the defendant had been addressing "issues" through counselling, although Mr Fraser did not say what they were.
He suggested it was "inappropriate" a young woman had been given the role of "delivering drunk patrons home at night in a rural locality".
Judge Neave said the assault was persistent, targeted at the victim’s genital area and increasingly intrusive.
The assault had left a deep mark on her, he said. "She’s lost confidence, lost enjoyment of life, and I suspect she has a post-traumatic stress disorder."
However, he accepted the defendant’s remorse was genuine, and took account of his guilty plea and willingness to participate in restorative justice.
Those factors brought the nominal term of imprisonment down to 12 months, which he converted to six months’ home detention at an Invercargill address.
Croat must pay the victim $1500 reparation for emotional harm.
— Guy Williams, PIJF court reporter
