A man has claimed he’s ‘not a bad guy’ after raping an eight-year-old and an unconscious teenager.
It took Joseph James Ennis more than two years to be tracked down after attacking the teenager at a party.
When he was finally charged and taken to court, the young woman was horrified to find out that Ennis had been charged with raping an eight-year-old girl three years earlier.
It took Joseph James Ennis more than two years to be tracked down for the rape of the teenager at a party
The victim had gone to sleep after drinking at a party, when she woke to Ennis ripping off her shorts and raping her.
He told her the name of a different teenager at the party, and when the investigation began he lied to police extensively before he went underground for two years.
Police finally found him in December 2015 and requested him to provide a DNA sample, which positively matched evidence from the attack.
On April 11 this year, Ennis, a 25-year-old builder from Auckland was sentenced to prison for seven years and eight months, the NZ Herald reported.
Ennis continued to deny the allegations, claiming that he had in fact had sex with the teenager, but it was consensual.
In February this year after countless delays, he went on trial in the Auckland District Court where it was revealed that he had also been charged with rape in 2013, yet the case was thrown out of court and he was never convicted.
It is unusual for a previous criminal charge to be released for a person on trial, but the Crown argued that it was necessary as it showed his propensity to act in a particular way.
Ennis continued to deny the allegations, claiming that he had in fact had sex with the teenager, but it was consensual
The jury heard that the victim in the 2010 attack was only eight years old when Ennis raped her – she was a family friend who was at his house when he invited her into his room where he took off her shorts and raped her.
The little girl ran home crying, telling her mother that Ennis had ‘kissed’ her, and she didn’t even know what sex – or rape – was at the time.
Three years later the girl told her friend at school what happened to her and a teacher was also notified who got police involved and eventually charged Ennis with rape.
The matter was soon dismissed after the defence applied for a stay of proceedings – the court found that Ennis had been prejudiced due to the delay in the girl reporting the alleged rape.
The jury heard that the victim in the 2010 attack was only eight years old when Ennis raped her
At his most recent trial and in pre-sentencing reports Ennis continued to deny both rapes, maintaining his claim that the sex with the victim at the party was consensual.
He said that they were both having a good time and that he felt ‘pretty good about it’.
‘I wouldn’t have done it if she was passed out … where’s the enjoyment in that?’ he said.
He admitted lying to the police about the other teenager, yet denied he did it to set the youth up.
‘Ir was a silly thing to do, to lie to the police,’ Ennis said. ‘I was scared, I’m not a bad guy.’
At his sentencing trial, Judge Ronayne said that Ennis’ account of consensual sex was ‘fictional’ as the victim was ‘incapable’ of consenting due to her intoxication.
He believed that Ennis’ attempt to lie about the attacks were ‘patent, manifest and excrutiating to listen to’.
After hearing the evidence against Ennis the jury took 25 minutes to come to the verdict that Ennis was guilty.
After hearing the evidence against Ennis the jury took 25 minutes to come to the verdict that Ennis was guilty