R v Ranga

In this case, Mr Leonard John Ranga was found guilty of committing an indecent act on a child under 12, pursuant to s 132(3) of the Crimes Act 1961. The Crown noted that Mr Ranga was eligible for preventive detention and accordingly, the District Court declined jurisdiction and transferred the case to the High Court of New Zealand. The legal issues before the Court were whether a finite sentence or a sentence of preventive detention should be imposed on Mr Ranga. The Court considered the purposes and principles of the Sentencing Act 2002, the victim impact statement, and the pre-sentence report in determining the appropriate sentence. The Court found that although Mr Ranga had a history of offending in this manner, it was not sufficient to justify an indeterminate period of imprisonment. The Court also considered the health assessor reports which suggested that there was no firm information suggesting a strong likelihood of committing serious offences in the future. The Court was concerned by Mr Ranga's alcohol abuse and considered it to be a significant factor increasing his risk of offending in the future. However, the Court was swayed by the fact that Mr Ranga had not been invited in the past to engage in any treatment directed towards his sexual offending and that he was willing to engage in specialised treatment. The Court concluded that it would be premature and disproportionate to sentence Mr Ranga to preventive detention at this stage and imposed a finite sentence of two years imprisonment with special conditions.

Mr Ranga was sentenced to a term of two years imprisonment on the following special post-release conditions: (a) to reside at an approved address and not to move without the prior written consent of a Probation Officer; (b) not to associate with any person under the age of 16 years without the prior written consent of a Probation Officer; (c) to undertake employment as approved by a Probation Officer; (d) to be assessed for the SAFE programme and if suitable attend the SAFE programme to the satisfaction of the Probation Officer and service provider; (e) to undertake any such assessment, counselling, treatment or programme designed to address offending behaviour and reduce the risk of reoffending to the satisfaction of the Probation Officer and service provider; and (f) to undertake any other such assessment, counselling, treatment or programme designed to meet his alcohol abuse problems. The special conditions apply for a period of six months post the sentence expiry date.