Far North man Alexander Wright sentenced to 20 years in prison for rape and sexual abuse of girls

The verdict was applauded by children’s services manager Jane Searle as an important sentence of justice.

“The trauma and impact on the lives of affected victims cannot be underestimated.

“It is important that the justice system responds accordingly as the consequences will be far-reaching, not only for the victims but also for society,” Searle told NZME.

At a jury trial in the Whangārei High Court earlier this year, Wright was found guilty of 38 charges of sexual offenses against three girls, all under 12 at the time.

The charges related to various violations, including eight rapes that occurred multiple times.

Judge Michael Robinson said the victims were strong, brave and resilient young women with years of potential ahead of them.

“I want to highlight and pay tribute to their courage. Everyone continues to suffer because of what you did to them, and everyone has a long way to go.

“I hope as they move forward they can take comfort in the fact that justice was served because of their courage,” Judge Robinson said.

For years, Wright offered to help his mother look after the children, sometimes overnight, at his family home.

Almost immediately he began sexually abusing children.

During one of the girl’s first overnight dates, Wright sexually assaulted her in the living room, and when she moved into the room to be closer to his wife and feel safe, he took her back to the living room and raped her again. The next morning he raped her.

“It’s unclear whether your wife knows what’s going on,” Judge Robinson commented to the man as he appeared in the dock at the Whangarei High Court for sentencing on Friday. Throughout the proceedings he had no support in court.

“You hunted her”

At trial, the girl testified that Wright constantly tried to touch her both in her own home and in his, and even when she locked herself in the bathroom to get away from him, he managed to get to her.

The girl thought that by putting up with Wright’s behavior she was protecting her younger sisters from him, and was devastated to learn that they had also been victims of his predatory behavior.

“There was nothing she could do to protect them from you, you hunted them just like you hunted her, she takes no responsibility for your insult. The only person responsible is you,” Judge Robinson said.

Wright brutally pinned and raped another girl and sexually assaulted another girl several times.

“She told you to stop, you told her not to tell you what to do and if she told anyone she wouldn’t see what would happen,” Judge Robinson said.

– How could you do this?

One of the victims told the court her childhood was ruined and her innocence was taken away.

“I was told to keep my mouth shut, how can you do this to someone at the age of seven?

“Every man I looked at was a monster, every boy was a demon,” she said in court at her sentencing.

The victim said she was afraid she would be blamed if she told the truth and said anything about her younger self.

“I would like to hug this seven-year-old girl and tell her: “There are no more worries and monsters in the house.”

Judge Robinson criticized Wright’s repeated denials and found his offending to be serious and significant.

“You claim that you were the victim of false accusations, but your victims had the courage to speak out.

“Instead of caring for them, you constantly used and abused them for your own pleasure… they were vulnerable children.”

Judge Robinson sentenced Wright to 20 years in prison with a minimum non-parole period of 10 years.

“If you continue to deny your offences, you will serve your full sentence. If you continue to deny your offence, you will not be offered any rehabilitation programmes. Your chances of rehabilitation seem slim.

Wright was automatically placed on the child sex offender registry.

Shannon Pitman is an Open Justice reporter based in Whangārei, covering the courts in the Te Tai Tokerau region. She is originally from Ngāpuhi/Ngāti Pukenga and has worked in digital media for the past five years. She joined NZME in 2023.