Comedian convicted for sexual asault, but concerns remain

The comedian who sexually assualted his 4 year old daughter has been convicted and sentenced to 8 months home detention. Sexual violence agencies expressed concerned that the man was not mandated to attend a specialist sex offender treatment programme.

The Executive Director of Rape Prevention Education Whakatu Mauri, Dr Kim McGregor, said, "Any person who commits a crime of sexual violence should be mandated to undergo a specialist clinical Harmful Sexual Behaviour assessment so that the individual's level of risk can be tailored to the intervention. Specialist services can include developing robust safety plans, having specialist therapists available to work with the wider family/whanau to ensure that all are aware of the safety plan and can help to ensure the plan is adhered to."

The man has joint custody of his daughter after he and the girls' mother separated following the assault.

Concerns also remained that comments made by the judge reflected a lack of understanding of the common effects of sexual abuse on children. Judge Perkins attributed the signs of trauma the girl had shown to the stress of her parents' separation rather than the assault. The Judge also said, "Obviously one would hope the child would not remember details of the offending."

Dr Kim McGregor said the case provided further support to the Law Commission's recommendations that crimes of sexual violence need to be heard in a specialist court with trained judges, jurors and court personnel.

'Comedian's sex sentence 'not enough'', Stuff, 28/7/12

'Harmful sexual behaviour 'must have specialist courts'', Press release, Rape Prevention Education Whakatu Mauri, 27/7/12

'Sex comedian's home detention', NZ Herald, 27/7/12

'Comedian convicted for sex assault on daughter', Stuff, 27/7/12

'Comedian’s child sex conviction welcomed', Press Release, Stop Demand, 27/7/12

For background information, see 'Concerns at comedian child sexual abuse resentencing' here