Youth, aged 15, entered women’s bedrooms

Press, 24 February 1988, Page 7

Youth, aged 15, entered women’s bedrooms

A youth, aged 15, entered three houses in Riccarton in the late evening or early morning last November and December and indecently assaulted a woman and girl in their bedrooms and threatened to rape another. He ran off after the woman he threatened to rape screamed. The woman, aged 19, had a knife held at her throat and the youth held the 14-year-old girl’s throat. Details of five offences alleged against the youth were related in the Children and Young Persons Court yesterday. He admitted two charges of indecent assault on a woman, aged 19, on November 10 and a girl, aged 14, on December 2; unlawfully entering the house of the first complainant; breaking and entering the house where the 14-year-old girl lived; and breaking and entering the house of the woman he threatened, on November 3.

Upon the youth’s pleas of guilty to the charges, Judge Noble remanded him on continued bail to March 18 for a report from the Social Welfare Department. He said it would be determined then whether the charges, which were serious, would be transferred to the High Court for the defendant to be sentenced. Mr S. C. Barker appeared for the youth.

The defendant originally had been charged with sexual violation of the girl aged 14 by raping her, and he was to have faced a preliminary hearing of this charge yesterday. However, the charge was withdrawn yesterday on the youth’s plea of guilty to the substituted charge of indecent assault.

Detective Sergeant B. M. Roswell, who prosecuted, said in relation to the offences that about 11.40 p.m. on November 3 the defendant climbed through an unlatched win-

dow of a house, disturbing a woman who was asleep. He told her he had a gun and was going to rape her. She screamed and he ran off. At 1.15 a.m. on November 10 he entered another house in the Riccarton area through a partly opened lounge window. Inside, he went to the bedroom of a woman, aged 19. He held a knife at her throat and started kissing her breasts. The woman suffered a cut to a hand when she attempted to move the knife from her throat. She called out and awoke another member of the house. At this, the defendant ran off, leaving through the window through which he had entered the house. At 1.10 a.m. on December 2 the youth entered another house in the same district, opening an unlocked door. He went to the bedroom of the girl, aged 14, and held her throat and told her not to say anything and she would not be

hurt. Sexual intercourse took place and the defendant forced the girl to perform oral sex on him and he did likewise to her.

The girl did not suffer serious physical injury from this assault, but had been emotionally and mentally disturbed since the incident and was receiving help for this, Detective Sergeant Roswell said.

He said that when questioned by the police the defendant admitted the offences and said he had gone to the house to “rip it off.”

He admitted having committed the earlier offences also and said he thought he had a sexual disease and, because of that, could not have a normal girlfriend. He told the police he had been drunk on the three occasions he had gone to the houses.

A doctor who examined the defendant found his sexual organs were normal.