Indefinite jail for child Wellington sex abuser

http://xtramsn.co.nz/news/0,,11964-6952295,00.html

LOCKED AWAY: Amor Walter, who preyed on children as young as three, was jailed indefinitely with the angry shouts of his victim's families ringing in his ears.

A serial sex offender who groomed victims as young as three has received the harshest sentence available in New Zealand law.


In the High Court at Wellington yesterday, Amor Josiah Walter, 27, received an open-ended jail term of preventive detention and must serve at least 15 years, equal to a year for each victim in the 44 charges he admitted.

The offences took place in homes in the Hutt Valley between 1999 and 2006.

Justice Forrie Miller was told five more children would not make statements so charges relating to them were withdrawn. One other child could not be identified.

Prosecutor Grant Burston said it was one of the worst cases of systematic prolonged abuse to come before the courts.

As the charges against Walter were read out, one young man yelled abuse and threats from the back of the court."I'm going to kill you. Do you hear me?" Police surrounded him and took him away.

Onlookers gasped as the judge said one three-old-boy had become so conditioned that when Walter closed the bedroom door, the boy would lean over the bed and pull down his pants before Walter violated him, sometimes twice a day.

As sentencing progressed, people in the public gallery cried and more threats were yelled. The mother of one of Walter's victims collapsed sobbing.

She told The Dominion Post later that listening to the sentencing had made her feel ill. "A number of us were sitting there with anger, just rage."

She welcomed the preventive detention sentence but had hoped the minimum term would have been longer than 15 years.

"Our concern is that he does not get out and destroy the lives of anyone else."

She was relieved Walter was finally unmasked after months of name suppression. "Our biggest fear is that there are more victims out there."

Her family now needed counselling, especially her son who Walter abused. His schooling had been affected, he was psychologically damaged and was watched in case he tried to kill himself.

"His biggest fear is that he will become an offender himself."

Walter's lawyer, Christopher Stevenson, said Walter suffered chronic sexual abuse from a young age and re-enacted scenes of abuse from his past.

All but one charge represented a pattern of conduct against a child, not a single incident. There was one of rape, 37 of various forms of sexual violation, four of indecent assault and two of supplying cannabis.

The victims were aged three to 15. Some were abused in front of other victims and Walter had some victims sexually abuse each other while he watched.

Justice Miller said Walter was given credit for pleading guilty and giving police a full statement which identified three victims police might not otherwise have found.

Ann Thompson

New Zealand

http://www.stuff.co.nz/dominionpost/3963279a6479.html