A Thames man who raped a teenager on three separate occasions before punching and head-butting her and throwing her through the railings of a balcony has been jailed for 15 years.

Louis Ariki Te Moananui, 34, was sentenced to 15 years with a minimum non-parole period of seven and a half when he appeared before Judge Robert Wolff in Tauranga District Court this week.

Louis Ariki Te Moananui has been jailed for 15 years for raping and assaulting a teenager on three separate occasions.

Te Moananui was earlier found guilty on three charges of rape and one charge of indecent assault for incidents between 2007 and 2009 when he raped and beat up a teenage girl, who was known to him.

Between March 2007 and the middle of 2009 Te Moananui raped the victim, twice in Thames and once in Paeroa, abducting her for the purposes of sexual connection, assaulting her and forcing her to perform oral sex on him.

The girl had just turned 17 when the first rape occurred.

According to the police summary, Te Moananui would beat the victim to stop her going to the police and she was too afraid to tell anyone for fear of what he might do.

After raping her for the third time, the girl threatened to go to police. To stop her Te Moananui punched and head-butted the teen several times before throwing her through the railings of a balcony onto a concrete path. He then hit her in the ribs with an iron bar.

The summary says the victim suffered a split forehead, fractured ribs and a black eye requiring medical attention.

Between May 28 and February 4, 2012, the case was put before three separate juries. In the final trial Te Moananui was found guilty of the three counts of rape and one count of indecent assault.

In court this week Crown prosecutor Jasper Rhodes asked for a starting point of 16-18 years due to the high level of harm shown in the victim's evidence and impact statements.

'It's cynical offending where he took every opportunity available. It wasn't a one off event, there is a degree of planning and pre-meditation.

'He nevertheless went to a place where he knew she would be.”

Te Moananui's lawyer Tony Balme told Judge Wolff an appropriate sentence was 14-15 years.

'Probably the most serious of the factors that would push it up into that mid-range (band three) is the assault on the balcony.”

Judge Wolff says there is no excuse for rape. He says the fact the victim knew Te Moananui makes no difference.

'But finally on the last occasion when she had had quite enough and was about to report it to the police you beat her to prevent her going to the police.

'You take the opportunity when it arises.”

He sentenced him to 15 years imprisonment for the three rape charges, five years on the wounding with intent and 12 months on the indecent assault charge, all to be run concurrently with a minimum period of imprisonment of half the sentence.