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Pop Aholelei
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The rape of a young woman at the Parnell Rose Gardens in Auckland in August 2001
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.
none known
Born 1973
Prison
Sentenced to 7 years six months in July 2007
Eligible for parole from February 2009
Statutory Release Date February 2014
Background
NZ Herald story here and in more detail here
Stuff Story Friday, 20 July 2007
Six years after an Auckland man raped the drunken woman he had watched stagger from a nightclub, he listened impassively as a judge jailed him for 7½ years.
The 2001 rape was not solved at the time but last August Pop Tanupou E'Moala Aholelei was involved in a motor accident and gave police a voluntary DNA sample.
The sample identified him as the rapist who picked up a drunken woman as she left a nightclub, drove her to the Parnell Rose Gardens and raped her. The woman was not forced but guided into his car and was virtually asleep from the time she got into the car and was guided out at the Rose Gardens. The woman was menstruating but was so drunk she was incapable of understanding what was happening and was unable to protest or resist, Judge Mary-Beth Sharp told Aholelei, 34, in Auckland District Court today.
"You showed no intention of desisting despite her cries of pain," the judge said. The woman's intoxication made her particularly vulnerable "and you took advantage of that vulnerability," she said. The judge said the victim impact report made horrifying reading and the woman continued to be affected to this day.
He allowed his extreme sexual arousal urges to overcome any finer feelings he had for the victim. "It was animal behaviour," the judge said. Aholelei's lawyer, Graeme Newell, said he had written a letter of apology and had completed courses while in custody. He said he had not forced the victim into his car and no force had been used during the rape.
However, he said the victim was vulnerable and that was probably why the crime was committed. He was sentenced today after admitting the rape last month. Aholelei was Tongan but had New Zealand residency and was living with his wife and child. The court was told he was a good worker and of good character until the rape happened.
