Youth jailed for five years for rape

Press, 16 July 1987, Page 4

Youth jailed for five years for rape

A 16-year-old youth who robbed and raped a woman, aged 21, in her home at the point of a loaded .22 rifle was jailed for five years by Mr Justice Williamson in the High Court yesterday. The youth, Christopher Sean Rawiri, now aged 17, unemployed, was so naive that when he forced the woman to write out a cheque for $lOO he made her cross out “Cash” and insert his name on it, said his counsel, Mr Robert Osborne. Rawiri had pleaded guilty to charges of rape and aggravated robbery on March 9. The young woman, who was alone in the house, had stayed home from work because she was ill. She was in the backyard when Rawiri held her up with the rifle, pointed the muzzle in her back, and ordered her inside. There he made her close all the windows and told her that he hated “all honkies” because they had nice houses. Rawiri demanded money, food and drink, put the barrel of the rifle against the young woman’s forehead and the side of her head. He kept pretending that he was going to shoot her. When she admitted that she was scared he said’ “Good, I like it when people are scared.” After forcing her to undress he raped her on a bed while he held the rifle at her head, according to the evidence. For Rawiri, Mr Osborne

said his client had been evicted from his flat in February after falling into arrears with his rent. He got a tent and a .22 rifle and went to Woodend where he spent 10 days shooting rabbits and committing an occasional! burglary. He was destitute and for two days at the end of that period he had no substantial food. Because he was becoming too well known among Woodend residents Rawiri decided to come to Christchurch to commit a burglary. Tha was his only intention. The rape occurred only after he discovered that there was a woman at the house which he thouoght was unoccupied. There was nothing in Rawiri’s record that indicated a propensity towards sexual offending. The confrontation with the woman had come about by pure chance.

It was not the case of a professional thief setting out to commit a crime for personal gain. Rawiri sought food and money because of his desperate circumstances. Rawiri had never had any real home life. He was adopted at two months when his parents separated. His adopted father was an alcoholic who beat the child so that his early life must have been a nightmare. When the couple had four children of their own Rawiri felt left out of things and neglected. The mother did not care for him in the same way as

she did for her natural children. Eventually the couple separated and the mother and children came to Christchurch but the father stayed with them from time to time and Rawiri continued to endure the beatings. His life consisted of a series of foster homes and institutions and after threats of suicide he was sent for psychiatric assessment. Rawiri had tried to trace his natural parents but the authorities were not keen on his finding them. He found his mother and a brother in Auckland and stayed with them at Christmas, 1985, but the visit ended in disaster. Many of his family, including his mother, had been in prison. At the age of 12 Rawiri had been given a poor prognosis and in the years that followed little was done to help him. His attempts to go back to his natural family resulted in a bitter disappointment. Mr Osborne said that Rawiri had been in custody in Addington Prison for more than four months. Mr Philip Shamy, for the Crown, said that while Rawiri had had a difficult and unsavoury upbringing he had used a loaded rifle to rape and rob a woman who had suffered a great deal of trauma from the ordeal. Mr Justice Williamson said that rape was a serious crime because it degraded and humiliated the victim. Rawiri had terrorised the woman by his actions with the rifle. There was no alternative to imprisonment. The public of Christchurch were most concerned about the prevelance of sexual offending but there were some mitigating factors. Persons who neglected and abused children must share some of the blame for what had happend to Rawiri, his Honour said.