Two sisters who were sexually abused by a man who was briefly in their lives have welcomed a proposal that aims to change the law around name suppression for offenders. They say it would give the power back to people like them, who suffered significant harm at not only the hands of the offender but also the justice process that followed. They share their journey with Tracy Neal. 

They never imagined being centre stage in a courtroom, but in September 2024, sisters Sally* and Andrea* had to stand before a bunch of strangers and talk about the intimate details of a sexual assault. 

It was at the hands of William Godfrey Wood, whose path crossed theirs when they were young. 

Five gruelling days of giving and hearing evidence about their abuser, and being cross-examined by his lawyer, finally ended in Wood’s imprisonment. 

The relief was apparent on their wrung-out faces during Wood’s recent sentencing, having an hour earlier faced him to deliver their victim impact statements. 

“All I wanted from this process was an apology,” the elder of the two sisters said, almost shouting at Wood, who is hearing-impaired. 

In an interview before sentencing, the sisters told NZME about what Judge Noel Sainsbury described in court as the often “cold, brutal process” sexual abuse survivors often have to go through. 

“It’s an enormous thing to happen, being confronted with strangers in a big public courtroom,” Sally said. 

“You have to go into complete detail, describe different parts of your body, and give a full description of exactly what part of the body it happened to. 

“It definitely made me feel awkward.” 

Andrea said it was “horrific” and made her feel “quite disgusting”. 

They said it was made worse by the argument raised by the defence that perhaps the sisters had made it all up. 

“Why would I put myself through all this emotion if I had made it up? Why would I be sitting here in a courtroom of strangers, in front of all those people, and tell them what he did to me? 

“That’s just wrong,” Sally said. 

Power to the victims 

The pair support the proposed new law change, announced in November, that would essentially give victims of sexual offending more say in what happens in court when it comes to name suppression. 

It would also protect a wider number of victims by extending who was entitled to automatic suppression. 

Under the current law, the court must consider a victim’s views about permanent suppression, but a judge doesn’t have to agree with them or do what they would like. 

The sisters felt the law change would give back some of the power to victims as they felt it was currently weighted towards the offender. 

“This process should never have taken three years,” Sally told Wood in her victim impact statement. “This should never have gone to a jury. This process would have been a lot simpler had you just admitted the abuse, but you sat quietly behind your lawyer and denied it all.” 

Andrea, who read her statement while wearing wings and a giant butterfly necklace, spoke of the years it had taken for her to emerge from the “scared little caterpillar” she had been to the butterfly she is now, able to escape the pain and torment. 

Sisters two among thousands of victims 

Wood was sentenced in the Nelson District Court in December to two years and six months in prison after a jury earlier found him guilty on representative charges of sexual violation by unlawful sexual connection and sexual indecency with a girl aged between 12 and 16. 

The offending against Sally happened on multiple occasions between 1994 and 1996 and against Andrea, between 1993 and 1995. 

Wood was found not guilty on a charge of indecently assaulting a girl aged under 12 – not because the jury did not believe the victim, but because of the sliver of doubt over her age at the time, Judge Sainsbury told the court at sentencing. 

William Godfrey Wood enters the Nelson District Court in December 2024 for sentencing on charges of sexual abuse. Photo / Tracy Neal 

The sisters are now two of the tens of thousands of victims of sexual abuse recorded in New Zealand each year. 

A Ministry of Justice crime and victims survey (2023) found that about 78,000 adults had been sexually assaulted in the year from November 2020. 

The ministry estimates 23 per cent of adults in this country experience sexual assault in their lifetime, but 92 per cent of such crimes are not reported to police. Only 13 per cent of cases before the courts result in a conviction. 

The sisters have been shocked by how many people have opened up to them about their own experiences. 

Andrea belongs to a social group whose members are mainly older women, and has begun to share her story with them. 

“I’ve mentioned what happened to a few people I’ve been close with, and they told me it’s happened to them too. 

“These are women in their 80s and 90s, and they’ve never been able to say anything.” 

The truth hurts 

The beginning of the end of years of mental torture arose a little over three years ago when Andrea told Sally what had happened to her. 

“Before [Andrea] even finished saying what she had to say, I said to her, ‘You don’t even need to tell me who has done this, because he sexually abused me as well’.” 

Sally is protective of her younger sister and was compelled to act on her behalf. 

“I felt I had to say something and do something about this.” 

Andrea, who has also endured major health struggles, had a physical reaction to the relief of telling someone. 

“Oh, the feeling that went through my body. My head felt really hot – the emotions coursed through me, and I was shaking and nervous. 

“As soon as I said it, it was like a relief, but then she said she had been through the same.” 

Sally asked if Andrea wanted to go to the police, and the answer was immediate. 

“I’d said all along that it was okay for him to do that to me, but not my little sister. But no, it wasn’t okay for him to do it to me because I was 11,” Sally said. 

An overriding memory, above all the fear, shame and rage, was how happy they were when he suddenly vanished from their lives, leaving in the bus he lived in, which had been parked near their home. 

Wood had become a trusted member of the community, collecting firewood for some, providing transport for others, and ingratiating himself with the local church. 

He was, his lawyer Steve Zindel pointed out, a well-liked member of the community. 

“I don’t want him to be written off as uniformly bad when he’s done so much good, and I say that with respect to the victims in this case,” Zindel said. 

Road to justice full of potholes 

The sisters’ relief when Wood was arrested was short-lived. 

The road to justice can be long and winding and, in their case, full of potholes they felt were aimed at knocking them flat on their faces. 

Court loomed, which Sally said was “probably the scariest time of my life”. 

“I’m a confident, bubbly person, but all of a sudden, I was walking up those stairs to go into court, and I was a mess. 

“I was shaking and upset. It was awful.” 

Sally calmed herself with the words of a police officer she spoke with as the trial was about to begin. 

“I was so nervous, and he said: ‘Pretend to be a duck on a pond’. 

“So the whole time, I felt like I was just a duck on the pond, so obviously calm and collected from the waist up, but below, my legs were paddling like hell.” 

Andrea, who still suffers the effects of what happened to her, wonders what her life might have been like had she not experienced such soul-crushing abuse. 

Like many young victims, she didn’t know what was going on, only that it was somehow very wrong. 

“I was about 6 or 7 at the time. I didn’t feel right, but I just didn’t know what to do. 

“I felt disgusting, and it was yucky. And I didn’t know who to talk to.” 

She recalls being “quite an angry kid” from holding in all her emotions. 

“Sometimes I’d have outbursts and I didn’t know why I was having them.” 

Her shame grew each year until adulthood, when it erupted in grief and anger. 

“When I got a bit older, I realised I could ask for help and I was ready as an adult to go through the process.” 

Sisters Sally* and Andrea* who gave evidence against their abuser in a sex assault trial. Andrea says she now feels she's been transformed into the butterfly she strived to become. Photo / Tessa Claus / TopSouthMedia 

Andrea says speaking out has given her a second chance at life. 

“Because it was really hard growing up, trying to hold on to a big secret. That’s what it made me feel like. 

“It just got to the point that, no, it’s not okay – we need to get it sorted.” 

In the hours before the jury delivered its verdict, the sisters were stricken with anxiety, and unsure how to react if Wood was found not guilty. 

Sally said the prosecution team and family members knew that, depending on the outcome, she would be “quite vocal”, and Andrea would be quite emotional. 

“We walked up the stairs, and I was holding on to my husband’s hand that hard, squeezing it that tight, I’m surprised it didn’t cut his circulation off.” 

The sisters were stunned at the first verdict – not guilty. 

“We couldn’t believe it. And then the next one, guilty, and the next one guilty also.” 

They said three of the jury members were crying and they knew it had been an emotional rollercoaster for them as well. 

“I don’t know how that made me feel, seeing them emotional up there. I cried three or four times throughout the week because I couldn’t control my emotions. They’re there, and you can’t bury them,” Sally said. 

Andrea is now starting to cast off the shame she has carried all these years and is glad it’s been transferred to their abuser. 

“I feel like I’ve grown my wings, like I’m free and I feel really good that it’s all now out there.” 

She advised anyone at the start of the marathon court process to keep believing they would get through it. 

“It will be a process but you’ll be okay, just like you need to keep believing that it’s not okay what that person’s done to you, and you need to get help.” 

Andrea now wants to work in a job helping others going through the same thing she and her sister did. 

“I’d even take them to the police station. 

“I’ve always said to my counsellor it’s something I want to do, like be a speaker and go to groups and say to those listening, ‘It’s not okay because when I was little I didn’t speak – I didn’t have the right words to say’.” 

*Names have been changed to protect the survivors’ identities. 

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.

Tracy Neal is a Nelson-based Open Justice reporter at NZME. She was previously RNZ’s regional reporter in Nelson-Marlborough and has covered general news, including court and local government for the Nelson Mail.