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Offender Databases Dominic Potatau

Dominic Peter Potatau

Alias

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Offences

Home invasion, robbery and indecent assault of a 75-year-old widow in October 1988
Kidnap and indecent assault of a seven-year-old Papakura boy in June 1998
Previous convictions for indecent assault on a 14-year-old girl in 1982 and a number of dishonesty convictions

Victims

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Offender Affiliations

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Gang affiliations

none known

Age

Born 1965

Current Location

At large in Epsom under community detention

Parole/Release Dates

Sentenced to six years in November 1988
Unsuccessfully applied for leave to appeal the sentence in July 1989
Additional sentence in December 2009 for breach of parole conditions associating with children.

Background
From the Evening Post, Oct 20, 1998
The Crown has called for preventive detention for an Auckland man who admitted kidnapping and indecently assaulting a seven-year-old boy. Dominic Potatau, 33, unemployed, of Papakura, will be sentenced in the High Court at Auckland on November 13 after his appearance in Otahuhu District Court last week.

Judge Josephine Bouchier said the High Court must sentence him because he was eligible for preventive detention, an indefinite jail term. Crown prosecutor Louise Fryer said preventive detention should be imposed because "protection of the public" was at stake. Potatau had previous convictions for indecent assault on a 14-year-old girl in 1982, and a 75-year-old widow in 1988.

Defence lawyer Bruce Northwood said his client had not offended since 1988, so the public was not at risk from Potatau's behaviour. Judge Bouchier said all the current evidence showed Potatau was likely to offend again, despite not having a conviction since 1988. He also did not care about his current situation or the past convictions and this made him dangerous, she said.

Police found the seven-year-old victim in Potatau's bed just after 1am on Saturday, June 13. At first Potatau denied knowing where the boy was. He had offered money to the boy at a video game parlour to come home with him. They had watched a video and the boy became tired, so Potatau told him to use his bed. He admitted cuddling, kissing and patting the boy. Police had trouble waking the boy from a very deep sleep and suspected he had been given drugs or alcohol. Potatau was remanded in custody.

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Corrections and Additional Information
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