WARNING: This article discusses sexual assault and may be distressing.

A 17-year-old who dragged a young girl through a park before sexually assaulting her in a public toilet, claiming he had a knife and would kill her if she screamed, will keep his name a secret forever.

The teen appeared in the Christchurch District Court on Thursday where he was sentenced to five years’ imprisonment for the abduction and sexual violation of a younger girl.

Judge Mark Callaghan said name suppression wasn’t usually granted for this type of offending but due to the teen’s youth and background which did not get outlined in court, he found that the teen qualified for permanent name suppression.

“I can find that there will be extreme hardship for you if it becomes known in prison exactly what you did,” the judge said.

The teen sat emotionless in the dock facing forwards, avoiding the public gallery where the victim and her family sat.

The victim’s family opposed the teen’s name suppression, stating they were devastated by what had happened to their daughter.

They said she did not deserve what had happened to her, nor did the community, stating all parents try to protect their children from anything like this.

The toilet block attack

According to the summary of facts, on December 3 last year, the girl was walking to a school to see some friends when she noticed the teen was following her.

Eventually, the girl left the school to walk home, and again noticed he was following her.

As she approached the gate at Barrington St, in Christchurch, the teen grabbed her around the neck from behind and covered her mouth, telling her he had a knife in his pocket and if she screamed he would kill her. He then asked her name and age.

The teen walked the girl back across the park while, again, threatening to kill her with his knife if she were to move or scream.

He then dragged her into a toilet block and closed the door.

The victim managed to discreetly call 111 by pushing buttons on her phone.

As the teen tried to remove her clothing, he noticed her cellphone operating and he could hear the call-taker speaking to her.

He took the phone and ordered her to undress.

As he started to sexually assault her, he asked her if it felt good - she said no. He then made her perform a sex act on him, holding her by the hair.

At one point the victim tried to pull away and he asked her “did I tell you to stop?” before threatening her again with his knife.

The victim then put her hand in the teen’s pocket and found that there was no knife present.

He put his arm around her throat and she pleaded for him to stop as she was unable to breathe.

He grabbed her by the hair and continued the assault. The teen eventually left the toilet block - slamming the door behind him and causing the girl to be trapped inside.

She suffered a number of physical injuries including bruising to her neck, grazes to her knees and a sore scalp from her hair being pulled.

When the teen was spoken to by police he confirmed he had been at the park but denied being the person who committed the offences.

However, he later pleaded guilty to taking the girl without her consent with the intent to have a sexual connection with her, two counts of sexual violation and one of intentionally impeding breathing by applying pressure on her throat and neck.

He also did an indecent act on the girl, stole her phone and was found in an enclosed yard without a reasonable excuse.

‘No public interest’ in naming him

In court, the teen’s lawyer Elizabeth Bulger asked the judge to grant her client permanent name suppression given his age and issues outlined in reports relating to the teen’s upbringing which she did not want to discuss in open court.

Bulger said it “wasn’t in the public interest” to name him as people who “need to know who he is know”.

The Crown took a neutral stance on name suppression, but the victim’s family opposed it.

Judge Callaghan commended the victim and her family for coming to court.

He had read reports provided to the court about the teen’s background which stated he was brought up in a violent home and suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety, depression and low cognitive function.

He said the teen had “no awareness of boundaries between people” and was impulsive which could be seen as an underlying cause of why he acted as he did.

The judge gave the teen discounts for his youth, his early guilty pleas, previous good behaviour and personal circumstances, arriving at an end sentence of five years’ imprisonment.

He granted the teen permanent name suppression, stressing it was mostly because of his age and background outlined in the reports.

SEXUAL HARM

Where to get help:
If it's an emergency and you feel that you or someone else is at risk, call 111.
If you've ever experienced sexual assault or abuse and need to talk to someone, contact Safe to Talk confidentially, any time 24/7:
• Call 0800 044 334
• Text 4334
• Email [email protected]
• For more info or to web chat visit safetotalk.nz
Alternatively contact your local police station - click here for a list.
If you have been sexually assaulted, remember it's not your fault.

Emily Moorhouse is a Christchurch-based Open Justice journalist at NZME. She joined NZME in 2022. Before that, she was at the Christchurch Star.