Warning: Some people may find details in this story upsetting
A Gloriavale man who pleaded guilty to sexual offending has been discharged without conviction.
The 21 year-old entered guilty pleas to three representative charges of indecent assault against three teenage boys between 2015 and 2018.
The offender was a teenager himself when the offending occurred.
In the summary of facts released to 1News, the defendant stated he was unable to move on from the sexual offending he had been subjected to previously.
He said it had “lit a flame” within him, as he wanted to carry on the behaviour.
The defendant said he became aware that he shared a common experience with the three victims, in that they were offended against by the same person.
The defendant approached the victims and gradually engaged in conversation about the sexual abuse.
The Christchurch District Court heard how the man would take the victims to secluded locations where they would masturbate each other.
On several occasions, the defendant would attempt to choke his victims so that they would pass out.
One victim said he repeated the act on the defendant, and “blacking out” was practiced in order to help their consciences.
“If asleep, they did not feel their actions were wrong,” the victim said.
Another victim said the defendant was only pretending to be asleep.
Judge Mark Callaghan said the man had completed a restorative justice programme run by STOP and was at zero risk of reoffending.
He said the abuse was “normalised in the upbringing you had” and was “learnt by you as being an appropriate method of dealing with advanced sexuality”.
Jude Callaghan granted the defendant permanent name suppression and discharged him without conviction.
He said the consequences of a conviction outweighs the seriousness of the offending, and the stigma would have been with him for the rest of his life.
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