This story is so wrong. A convicted and imprisoned paedophile is still exercising power and control over his victims; Stuff reports:
Two girls abused by a paedophile are powerless to make the man remove their tattooed names from his forearms.
Christopher Hill, 34, who was jailed for seven years in Napier District Court last week, has the names of the sisters, now aged 12 and 13, tattooed from his wrists to his elbows. They were done in 2011 and were covered when he appeared in court.
The older girl, who was abused from the age of 4 until 10, made an emotional victim impact statement before Judge Jonathan Down. "Chris has my name tattooed on his arm. I hate this and it really upsets me," she said. "He didn't ask me if he could put my name on his arm. I would like it taken off. It feels like he owns me."
She cried as she described the dramatic impact his offending had had on her life, and said she was worried he would seek revenge when released.
The younger girl's victim impact statement, read by a family friend, also outlined how Hill's acts had affected her and said: "I'm upset about my name being tattooed on his arm. I remember he said he put our names there because he loved us. This makes me feel really yukky."
The girls' mother told the court she had trusted Hill "100 per cent". "Words cannot express how I feel . . . My family's destroyed and I have to get it back somehow."
Hill must be one sick puppy. The comment from the older girl that "It feels like he owns me" is right on the mark.
This sad story continues:
In March, a jury found Hill guilty of a charge of attempted sexual violation by rape, unlawful sexual connection and six charges of indecent assault of a child under 12. All but one charge involved the older girl. Several charges were representative.
The judge said Hill's demeanour in the dock and a pre-sentence report made it plain he was dismissive of the charges and maintained his innocence.
Hill had slept in the same bed as the girls. "It's hard to see how such a situation arose, but having heard from [the mother] this morning, it is quite clear she was under a great deal of stress" and had put her total trust in Hill, the judge said.
It was easy for others to criticise her for that in hindsight, "but we don't know what the situation was".
The judge said the offending was the type "that keeps on harming for many years and sometimes for the lifetime of the victims".
Hill has a minimum non-parole period of 3 years.
We had an internal debate before posting this. On one hand, the story is disgusting and repulsive. But on the other, it is a reminder that there are people out there who will do anything to exert their power over the vulnerable people they prey one. And in this case, Hill could be out, doing the same thing in just three years.
