A 42 year old Tauranga man is sentenced to seven years and 10 months in jail for 41 sexual offences committed against four Tauranga girls.

Richard Clark appeared before Judge Louis Bidois today and was also made to serve a minimum non parole period of three years, 11 months.

Richard Clark in court this morning.

In November last year, the former Bay of Plenty Times IT manager pleaded guilty to 15 representative charges of sexual violation by an unlawful sexual connection, eight representative charges of indecent assault on a child, two representative charges of indecent assault on a young person, and one charge of meeting a young person following sexual grooming.

'What seems to me is that you placed yourself in a position which enabled this offending to occur,” says Judge Bidois.

'It makes them (victims) sick and upset. They thought you were a nice person; probably because you were buying them gifts.”

He told the court the premeditated sexual offending took place over a 10 year period from 2001 and was against girls aged 9-15 years.

When Clark was eventually arrested, it was revealed one of the young girls had been abused for one quarter of her life.

The court heard how Clark indecently touched one of the girl's genitals and took photographs of that part of her body.

He gave the girls gifts and money.

'You were a mature male adult. These were young children who were powerless,” says Judge Bidois.

'If one stands back and looks at it from the families' perspective and the victims' perspective, buying these presents were to gain affection and entry into the family.”

Defence lawyer Rachel Adams told Judge Bidois that her client accepted his actions were wrong and caused significant trauma to his victims, but she asked that Clark's guilty plea, sincere remorse, and potential for rehabilitation, be considered in sentencing.

Rachel opposed a minimum non parole period and asked 25 per cent discount for the mitigating factors.
The Crown asked for a sentence of between 13 and 16 years, saying the victims suffered ongoing psychological and emotional trauma.

Judge Bidois started sentencing at 13 years imprisonment, but deducted time for the mitigating factors, which he believed were strong.

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