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Warwick Orchiston
.
Sexual molestation of seven Hastings girls and one boy aged 6-16 between 1972 and 1991
.
.
none known
Born 1942
At large
Sentenced to 4 years 6 months in December 2003
Released May 2008
Parole Board decision documented here
Background
A former Hastings winemaker, whose sexual abuse against children spanned nearly 20 years, has been jailed for 4 years 6 months. Warwick Roworth Orchiston, 62, a once-respected winemaker, molested seven girls and one boy between 1972 and 1991. He was found guilty by a Napier District Court jury last month of six charges of inducing an indecent act and eight of indecent assault.
From Hawkes Bay Today 16th December 2003
Winemaker jailed for indecencies. Found guilty of offences involving eight children from two families over two decades, Warwick Orchiston was sentenced yesterday to 4 years 6 months in jail. Friends and family watched yesterday as former Hastings winemaker Warwick Orchiston was sentenced to 4 years 6 months in jail for indecencies with children. The charges included indecent assault and inducing indecent acts during two decades of offending on eight children from three families, who were between six and 16 at the time. The complainants, including one male, are now all in their late 20's and 30's.
In the Napier District Court, friends and family of Orchiston continued to show support, packing the public gallery as they did throughout his trial last month. His lawyer, Nigel Hewat, told Judge Geoff Rea how Orchiston was a multi-talented man with expertise in winemaking, previous work experiences in the Antarctic and more recently practising forms of Chinese medicine. Mr Hewat said Orchiston had a very supportive wife and asked Judge Rea to be as merciful in sentencing as he could.
Crown prosecutor Russell Collins said victim impact statements, included two recorded on video tape, were chilling and showed how much damage the experiences had had on the victims. Mr Collins said the complainants were not seeking revenge, but more an acknowledgement of the indecencies and an apology from Orchiston.
But Judge Rea said Orchiston appeared to show no remorse and had at no stage told anyone involved in the case that he was not guilty of the crimes, despite fighting the charges to the end. He said the victim-impact reports made sad reading, and showed the blight the offending had had on the victims' lives. Orchiston was friendly with all three families involved, and all the children had had a great deal of respect for him. The breaches of trust and lack of remorse were aggravating features taken into account during sentencing.
In regard to the indecencies involving children under the age of 12, Orchiston was sentenced to four years six months jail. He received three years for the offences on children between 12 and 16 at the time. The terms will run concurrently.
From Hawkes Bay Today November 12th 2003
A father figure with evil desires. Once a respected winemaker at Vidals, vineyard manager at the Mission Estate and grape grower, 61 year old travelling sweet salesman Warwick Orchiston faces an uncertain future after being convicted on 13 charges involving indecencies with children. It was an at-times bizarre trial involving a man who attracted a public gallery full of supporters and was both praised and berated. Chris Ormond reports
To children he's the father figure they haven't had. He tells them fascinating stories, plays games with them, and lets them ride on his back. But the smoothly-won trust turns first to alarm when he touches them in strange places, and then to sheer confusion when they are pressed to touch him in return. They are told that it's "normal" and therefore accept it, but they can't help feeling dirty and guilty about it, and consequently often choose not to tell anyone. It's years later when they begin their path to adulthood that the reality of these strange incidents starts becoming clear.
The images linger for years, but it is only when they start having children of their own that their resolve to stop the man doing it to others, and to shut the door on it all, wins a mental battle against the urge to forgive and forget. It's the picture that emerged during six days in the Napier District Court before Warwick Orchiston was found guilty on all but one of the allegations made against him. Former Hastings-based CIB Detective sergeant Mike Foster, who has spent time working with child abuse cases and was approached by the first complainant, says Orchiston's role leading up to his acts of indecency with the children was familiar.
"He befriends families, befriends the children, wins their trust and then does these things." There has been little contact between Orchiston and his victims throughout their adulthood, but it was a surprise meeting with one of the women that sparked off the run of complaints. She says Orchiston called briefly to her home after she had had a daughter of her own, and made a comment that didn't sit well with her. "She's just as beautiful as her mother was as a child" he said at the time. The woman says she picked up her daughter and thought "I can't let this happen to anyone else."
Mr Foster says after a High Court ruling last year allowing the publication of Orchiston's name, several more people - apart from the current victims - had contacted him alleging similar abuse. While an unknown number of sex abuse victims find it easier to choose the "forgive and forget" option, for those who opt to speak out it's often the most difficult decision of their lives. A subsequent court case means being placed in front of a jury of 12 strangers and asked to recall sordid details of childhood memories that have both niggled and tortured ever since.
Although up against some disturbing allegations, Orchiston sat calmly through his trial, writing in a notebook whenever his victims recalled details of his actions. While the offending was not at the top end of the sex-abuse scale, a few of the victims spoke about the effects the acts had had on their private lives and about the ongoing counselling they had received or were still receiving.
After hearing the victims talk about ongoing sexual deviancy from Orchiston over two decades, his wife, son and two stepdaughters slammed all the allegations and praised the man at the centre of them. A few of the victims said some of the indecent acts actually occurred in front of Orchiston's son and stepdaughters. At one stage Mrs Orchiston, for whom some of the victims had nothing but praise, fired a couple of stinging attacks at two of the complainants and downplayed any suggestion she used to be best friends with their mother.
At one stage she had to be reined in by Judge Geoff Rea. Her daughters scoffed at suggestions that Orchiston could even be capable of such acts. The case has left huge discrepancies between the recollections of the people who testified against him and his own camp.
A defence tactic implying a bitter marriage split between Orchiston and his first wife was at the root of the allegations may have been credible with two or three complaints, but seemed unlikely with nine from three relatively unfamiliar families. With up to 20 friends and family supporting Orchiston through parts of the trial at any one time it is more than just his immediate family who will have been shocked at the jury's verdict.
