Jason Goodwin, 56, was jailed for 13 years and six months on eight charges including rape and sexual violation by unlawful sexual connection. Photo / 123rf
WARNING: This story is about sexual offending and may be distressing for some people
A man raped a young girl before taking photos of her in sexually explicit poses, which he threatened to use against her if she told anyone what happened.
About a year later, Jason Goodwin forced asecond, even younger victim to perform sexual acts on him.
Now the parents of both victims are worried for their children’s future.
Goodwin, 56, appeared in Hamilton District Court on Friday for sentencing on eight charges, including rape, sexual conduct with a child under 16, making an intimate visual recording, and four charges of sexual violation with unlawful sexual connection, relating to two separate sexual assaults.
The mother of the first victim, A, vented her anger and disgust at the man who had upended her daughter’s life, and saw him jailed by Judge Philip Crayton.
The judge described the offending as “very serious” and “degrading”, while A’s mother said she lived with guilt for not being able to protect her daughter.
Seeing her daughter self-harm in the years after the assaults, “broke me”, she said.
“I see her struggle ... I failed to protect her when she needed me most.
“I will hold this guilt for the rest of my life.”
Most details of Goodwin’s offending cannot be reported due to the victims’ automatic name suppression, but it can be described as expansive and degrading.
Goodwin held his first young victim down and raped her.
“She was yelling at you to get off you, and tried to push you away,” the judge said.
He then took photos, “in the most sexually explicit way”, before telling her he would publish them online if she told anyone what happened.
The second victim was even younger than the first.
Over about 12 months, he forced her to perform sexual acts on numerous occasions.
Judge Crayton said given her young age, she had no appreciation of the abuse Goodwin was subjecting her to.
Crown prosecutor Amy Alcock said as Goodwin pleaded on the morning of trial, she suggested a credit of 10%, given the victims didn’t have to give evidence.
However, there was nothing in the prepared reports that indicated remorse.
“There’s no insight but no denial at least,” the judge replied.
“It’s not a mitigation but at least ... there’s not been a ‘Oh I only entered a plea to get it over and done with’.”
Alcock labelled the offending as “degrading” and a “predatory course of sexual abuse”.
“Prison is really the only outcome here today.”
She pushed for a starting point of 11-and-a-half years, with an uplift of four to five years for the first victim.
She also pushed for a minimum term of imprisonment [MPI] of at least 50%.
Judge Crayton said he would issue one, but it was a matter of how long.
The MPI was the main issue of contention for Goodwin’s lawyer, Scarlett Hartstone, who acknowledged the “grave” offending and that a long sentence of imprisonment was warranted, but urged the judge against issuing an MPI.
Judge Crayton said the offending had been “utterly life-changing”.