Warning: This story deals with details of the sexual assault of a child, and may be distressing.

A man who denied raping a primary-aged girl now accepts he sexually assaulted her, after defending the allegations at trial.

After Shane Clayden was found guilty by a jury on three representative charges of sexual violation, indecent assault on a child under 12, and rape, he offered to take part in restorative justice with the victim and her mother.

But the phone call the mother received from restorative justice was “a kick in the guts”.

“For him to turn around after being found guilty and ask to meet with us, apparently now accepting his guilt, brought back much of the anger and upset I hoped would ease after the trial.”

Judge Paul Geoghegan, who presided over the Tauranga District Court trial and sentenced Clayden, addressed the mother directly before the sentencing started on Wednesday.

“I know that you were very upset about being approached about restorative justice, and I understand,” he said.

“It is relatively rare but not unknown for a defendant to acknowledge guilt after having denied it.”

Judge Geoghegan said there could be many reasons for this, and people often had difficulty coming to grips with their actions. After a guilty verdict, it allowed them to “contemplate” their offending.

Clayden had asked his lawyer about the possibility of restorative justice, and everyone involved in the process then had an obligation to explore that, the judge said.

“My view is those avenues should never be cut off, because sometimes for people hearing the admission, hearing the acknowledgment, being able to hear that and confront the offender, is something that is empowering. For other people, it’s debilitating,” Judge Geoghegan said.

There was no way of knowing what the response would be until the question was asked.

“I don’t think it’s for anyone else to answer that question but you... even if we know that asking the question runs the risk of distressing you, and I’m very sorry that’s what has happened here.”

While Clayden, who has previously been employed by Auckland Prison, police and was a volunteer firefighter, sought a discount for remorse through lawyer Alessia Spense, the judge declined this.

A psychological report said Clayden now accepted the allegations and broadly confirmed the events as outlined in the summary of facts.

Long-standing attraction to children

The specific details and circumstances of the offending can’t be reported to protect the identity of the young victim, who has statutory name suppression.

Clayden admitted to the report-writer he had a “long-standing sexual attraction to females as young as 5”.

“You reported that you were disgusted with yourself over the offending and taking the matter to trial,” Judge Geoghegan said.

“Importantly, you acknowledged that neither [the victim] nor her mother deserved what you put them through.”

While his acceptance of responsibility may provide “some comfort” to the victim and her family, “the stark reality is you put the victim and her mother through the ordeal of trial”, the judge said.

“You did that knowing that you were guilty of these offences. You gave evidence at that trial denying those offences.”

The judge found it would be inappropriate to apply a discount for remorse in those circumstances.

Clayden also sought a discount for a “disrupted and chaotic” childhood. The judge treated that with a degree of caution, noting that it was self-reported, and it hadn’t prevented the 49-year-old from having “long-standing responsible positions of employment”.

These roles had helped Clayden build a relationship with the victim’s family and he had relied on his previous good character and lack of criminal history to gain trust.

Clayden has no previous convictions, but the Crown noted that he had been before the court before. He was previously acquitted on a charge of rape.

He had worked for two years in private security, 10 years as a custodial officer in Auckland Prison, and then had employment with the police.

Clayden was also a volunteer firefighter for 13 years.

“There is also in this case the tragic irony that while you were employed by Corrections you worked in the Te Piriti unit for sexual offenders,” Judge Geoghegan said.

The judge did not make an allowance for Clayden’s background but did allow a “small” 5 per cent allowance in recognition of his previous good character.

After adopting an overall starting point of 14-and-a-half years, and applying the 5 per cent discount, the judge sentenced Clayden to 13 years' and nine months' imprisonment.

Offending ‘destroyed’ mother

In the mother’s victim impact statement, read by Crown prosecutor Laura Clay, she described feeling “empty and numb”.

“This has destroyed me,” she said.

It had ruined her ability to sleep, and her child would also “startle” awake every night, which she attributed to the offending.

It had impacted her employment, as she didn’t trust her child to be in the care of people she didn’t know, so wasn’t able to use childcare facilities.

She also wouldn’t let her daughter have sleepovers or play dates with people she didn’t know and this made her worried that she was isolating her and not allowing her to have a normal childhood.

“Because I was a witness in the case, I was advised by police not to discuss any details of the case with my daughter,” she said.

“For [a number] of years, I’ve had to feel like I’m lying to her and keeping secrets. As a mother, I wanted to say to her, ‘You can talk to me about anything’.”

During the years leading up to the trial, she hadn’t been able to “help her heal”.

The little girl didn’t talk to her about what happened, and the mother said it was “scary” not knowing how she was feeling.

The mother said the offending had affected “every part of [her] life”.

“All of my relationships, and my identity as a mother.”

Before the formal sentencing process started, the judge told the mother he’d read her victim impact statement.

“I want to say to you as clearly as I possibly can, you are not responsible... you’re a caring mother trying to do her best.”

He’d observed that mothers sometimes carried these loads “extremely heavily”, but it was important to remember they “couldn’t prevent everything”.

Judge Geoghegan also told the mother that if she felt it appropriate, she could tell the young victim he had been asking after her.

After the girl’s evidence and cross-examination during the trial, after the judge said she was free to leave, the young girl had one more thing to tell him.

“I just wanted to let you know that you look really good in that coat”, she said, referring to his judicial gown.

Judge Geoghegan told her that in his more than 20 years in the job, no one had ever said anything that nice to him.

She told him she liked the Māori design, and he explained it was a Te Ao Marama gown.

At the sentencing, he asked the young girl’s mother to “tell her that I spoke to the Chief District Court Judge of New Zealand and passed on her compliment about my coat.”

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 support@safetotalk.nz
• 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.

Hannah Bartlett is a Tauranga-based Open Justice reporter at NZME. She previously covered court and local government for the Nelson Mail, and before that was a radio reporter at Newstalk ZB.