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Offender Databases Robin Abraham

Robin Abraham

Alias

.

Offences

Repeated sexual violation by rape of a ten year old girl in April 2008

Victims

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Offender Affiliations

.

Gang affiliations

none known

Age

Born 1962

Current Location

Prison

Parole/Release Dates

Sentenced to ten years in September 2010

Background
From the Manawatu Standard 17th September 2010
A sex abuse victim's life was perfect until she turned 10 – she could walk to school by herself, play with her friends whenever she wanted and go to the corner dairy alone. But her world was turned upside down when Robin Abraham began sexually grooming her by performing lewd acts in her presence, which progressed to rape. The only person she told was her little sister, in whom she confided after nearly two years of suffering at the hands of the 48-year-old man.

In the Palmerston North District Court yesterday, Abraham, a Palmerston North father-of-seven, was sentenced to 10 years' imprisonment on two representative charges of sexual violation by rape, to which he pleaded guilty to earlier this year. While Judge Alistair Garland traversed the offending, Abraham sobbed as his supporters in the public gallery listened in disbelief. The family of the girl – who cannot be named for legal reasons – was sitting on the opposite side of the gallery, wiping away tears. One ran out upon hearing graphic details of Abraham's offending.

The girl's victim impact statement was read out by her grandmother in court. "Before I turned 10 my life was perfect and after I turned 10 and Robin started doing things to me my life was turned upside down," the girl had said in her statement. "I didn't feel safe at home and I used to hide from him when he came to our house." The sexual grooming began in April 2008 leaving the girl feeling "confused" and "angry". About a year after the grooming began, Abraham began raping her at secluded locations that he would drive her to. He also took photographs on at least one occasion. "I sometimes get flashbacks of what [he] did to me. "I feel scared, betrayed and confused," the court heard.

In March this year, the girl, now 13, spoke out and Abraham was charged. But while the abuse had stopped, the harm continued. "I feel like I have a giant hole in me that no-one can fix and I don't know if I will ever be able to fix it until I can trust people and not be scared. "I sometimes think that I would be better off dead, because if I was I wouldn't feel the pain, but I realise that if I was dead that would hurt my family," she said in her statement The girl suffered physical and psychological damage from Abraham's actions, her mother said in a victim impact statement also read to the court. The girl had been diagnosed with early stages of bipolar and had started self-harming and putting herself in danger.

The mother blamed herself for not noticing what was going on and said she now "wrapped her children up in cotton wool" for fear it could happen again. "I am now paranoid about whom I let into the house ... I just don't know who to trust. "It doesn't feel safe to have my kids out there." She won't let her children walk to school any more or go to the dairy alone. "Because of that loss of independence [my daughter] is rebelling," she told the court. Defence lawyer Fergus Steedman said Abraham, a bakery dispatch operator, was disgusted in himself and knew he was going to prison for a lengthy term. Abraham had the support of his family and wife of 25 years, Mr Steedman said. A minimum non-parole period was not imposed by Judge Garland.

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Corrections and Additional Information
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