A Blenheim man's regular and daily assaults on his three-year-old daughter were labelled "brutal and sadistic" by a judge in Blenheim District Court yesterday.
The man, who has permanent name suppression, admitted assaulting the girl. He was convicted and ordered to appear for sentencing if called upon within 12 months.
Judge Geoffrey Ellis said the man began hitting the girl from the age of one. It was "a daily occurrence as part of discipline". The hitting was frequent, left red marks and welts and made the child cry for up to 15 minutes.
"The brutal and sadistic nature [of the assaults] is not acceptable."
Family members were too afraid to approach the man about his offending or report him to the police, the judge said.
"This is not smacking. That is no way to discipline a child, and you knew that. It's a shame it was allowed to continue for several years on a daily basis."
The man was lucky not to be facing multiple or more serious charges, Judge Ellis said. He was glad that someone from the man's family had finally taken action through the Family Court.
Judge Ellis granted name suppression "with some regret". The man's partner opposed his name being published.
"If we as a society are serious about stopping violence against women, children and each other, then we need to be consistent [in dealing with similar cases]," Judge Ellis said.
Defence lawyer Laurie Murdoch said the man had since completed parenting courses.
Judge Ellis said the suspended sentence gave the man an incentive to not reoffend.
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