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Offender Databases Carl Richards

Carl Joseph Richards

Alias

.

Offences

Sexually violating a 14 year old New Plymouth girl by unlawful sexual connection in July 1993

Victims

.

Offender Affiliations

.

Gang affiliations

none known

Age

Born 1975

Current Location

unknown

Parole/Release Dates

Sentenced to 12 months, suspended for 18 months, plus 18 months supervision with counselling in September 1996

Background
From the Daily News September 17th 1996
A man who was sexually abused by his father and grandfather appeared in the High Court in New Plymouth yesterday for abusing a 14-year-old girl. New Plymouth student Carl Joseph Richards (21) had admitted sexually violating the girl by unlawful sexual connection in New Plymouth on July 26.

Justice Elias, Auckland, sentenced him to a year's jail, suspended for 18 months, and 18 months' supervision with a condition that he undertake counselling. For Richards, counsel Tom Sutcliffe said Richards had been sleeping in the same bed as the girl, who had run away from home. Richards' own history was one of complete tragedy, said Mr Sutcliffe.

His father had been an abuser. His mother abandoned the family, and he lived with grandparents. The grandfather abused him and his brother severely for a number of years; when this abuse came out into the open, the grandfather committed suicide. Richards was then placed with an aunt who was in a very violent relationship.

In a fit of rage one evening, the partner drove away from a hotel while intoxicated; Richards was in the car's back seat, and the man told him, "I'm going to kill you." The man drove so erratically that he rolled the car at high speed and was killed. Richards' history might have left him in some confusion over appropriate relationships, sexuality and issues of consent, Mr Sutcliffe suggested.

Richards had shown extreme remorse and sorrow for the suffering he had inflicted on the girl. For the Crown, counsel Michele Wilkinson said aggravating factors were that the girl was only 14, and had been vulnerable as a runaway from Social Welfare care. Richards had continued digital penetration for some time although the girl had asked him to stop.

The judge warned Richards that if he could not break out of the spiral of sexual abuse he would be dangerous to the community and could expect to spend much of his life in prison. It was critical that he receive support. In deciding to suspend the jail sentence, said the judge, she was influenced by Richards' remorse and early guilty plea. He had not minimised his culpability. The offending had been opportunistic and not pre-planned, although sustained for a significant time.

She took into account Richards' most unhappy background and, despite that, his good character. He had no convictions and had been taking some very positive steps to get his life together. Prison would be very destructive for him. The judge declined Mr Sutcliffe's application for continued suppression of Richards' name, after Ms Wilkinson said the girl's view was that his name "should be published in the paper".

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Corrections and Additional Information
We endeavour to make this database as accurate as possible, but we are at the mercy of whatever information we can find in various online and offline archives. We rely on the public - that is, people like you - to fill in the gaps that we cannot. If you wish to submit additional information or a correction to this file CLICK HERE . Privacy: Trust policy is that all sources are treated as strictly confidential unless we are explicitly told otherwise. If you wish to see a file removed from this database certain conditions must be met by the offender set out HERE Note that this does NOT apply for those that are the primary offender in a murder, rape, or any sexual offending involving minors. We do not enter into correspondence regarding the guilt/innocence of offenders. Such correspondence is not responded to, especially if the offender concerned has a number of prior convictions

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