By Catherine Hutton, Open Justice reporter of 
Graham Fox was sentenced to 8 months' home detention and ordered to pay his victim $2500 in the Wellington District Court after he earlier admitted a charge of indecency with a boy aged 12-16 years. Photo: NZME / Catherine Hutton
A man who inappropriately touched a teenager was arrested after admitting his offending on a secret recording to a Destiny Church facilitator at a petrol station cafe.
During the conversation in 2019, which lasted almost two hours, Graham Fox admitted he had "fiddled around with" the victim in the early 90s.
The recording was subsequently handed to police, who charged Fox the following year.
But Fox's lawyer tried to have the recording excluded from the case, claiming it was protected by religious privilege.
In June last year, the Court of Appeal rejected that argument, but its decision couldn't be reported until after Fox's sentencing in the Wellington District Court earlier this month.
The victim, who spoke to NZME after the sentencing, said at times it felt like the case was never going to end.
"The wait has been stressful, it's just hanging over you like a dead weight, and there's been no way to solve it."
He described suffering significant mental health problems and had spent 15 years on a benefit.
"Basically, he wrecked my life, he destroyed it. Just the nature of even trust. It took me a long time to trust anyone, my mum was the only one I trusted in my life, I didn't even trust my siblings," he said.
The detective who arrested Fox, Steve Yates, applauded the victim's bravery in coming forward and his tenacity in seeing the case through.
"He's a thoroughly pleasant young man, notwithstanding the trauma he's endured."
Now retired, Yates said the case, which was the last prosecution he was involved with, had set a precedent because it clarified who was legally defined as a minister of religion.
Yates encouraged anyone who considered themselves a survivor of inappropriate offending to contact the police.
Strong and affectionate feelings
At his sentencing, the court heard that Fox, now 65, befriended the young man in the early 90s.
The victim was part of a group of boys who would visit and stay at Fox's house at weekends, taking part in activities that included motorbike riding, rifle shooting and swimming.
Often, they would stay overnight, and the defendant and the victim developed a close relationship.
"It is clear that you had strong and affectionate feelings towards the victim," Judge Bruce Davidson said.
Around August 1991, the two ended up naked together in Fox's bed and he touched the teenager's penis.
Also at about this time, Fox met a woman and they got engaged.
Fox visited the victim and told him that, as he was soon to be married, he could no longer see him or have him stay over at his house.
But over the years, Fox made admissions to his wife, a pastor, his brother-in-law and a facilitator at a church-based anti-violence programme Fox was involved in, about his inappropriate relationship with the victim.
After they split up, Fox's now ex-wife spoke to the police around 2013 and again in 2016, providing information about sexual allegations against her former husband.
Nothing more happened until police spoke to the victim in 2015.
Police charged Fox in 2020, following the taped admissions.
At a judge-alone trial in May, Fox admitted a charge of indecency with a boy aged 12-16 years in relation to the touching, but was found not guilty on two other charges of sexual violation by unlawful sexual connection and indecency with a boy between 12-16 years.
The last charge involved an alleged incident in a spa pool, but the judge noted this now fell outside the statute of limitations.
"If criminal proceedings had been commenced within a year such as for inducing an indecent act, then undoubtedly the defendant would be guilty," the judge said in his decision.
'I was the weakest'
In the victim impact statement, which was read out to the court, the man described his battles with depression and anxiety, as well as suffering migraines. He had been hospitalised three times with organ failure, which he attributed to the abuse.
He had described how he had to live with the consequences of Fox's actions 34 years ago.
"The abuse disrupted my life and took a lot away from me. I developed depression, anxiety and physical health issues because of this trauma. But despite this, over time, I have got on my feet again and turned my life around."
Speaking to NZME, the man said the group of five boys met Fox through an association with a community group. Fox had picked him out of the group of five boys and had groomed him.
"I was the weakest, I was very innocent, I wasn't very clued up," he said.
Fox had offered fun and exciting activities that were financially out of reach for his parents, who he described as "loving" and had given him and his siblings everything that was required.
But the victim also spoke of his hope for the future.
"I have put my life back together. I am back on my feet again and I am proud of myself."
Judge Davidson said it was clear from both the victim's impact statement and his evidence at the trial that the offending had affected him emotionally, physically and financially.
Fox's lawyer, Michael Bott, said there had been no further offending for 34 years and probation had assessed his client's risk of reoffending as low.
"His belief is that this is abhorrent behaviour and he's not proud of it."
The Crown, represented by Anselm Williams, opposed permanent name suppression, as did the victim.
During sentencing, Judge Davidson noted that while the touch was brief, lasting only a few seconds, Fox was naked, the incident was serious and involved skin-on-skin touching of a teenager.
"His trust of you was breached in a wholesale fashion.
"Clearly you were grooming him for continued sexual contact."
In mitigation, the judge noted that Fox has made a number of admissions over the years and his efforts at counselling, although superficial, did allow for a very small discount.
There was also the negligible risk of reoffending, the long period without offending, and Fox's age.
Fox was sentenced to eight months' home detention and ordered to pay $2500 in emotional harm to his victim.
The judge declined to grant name suppression or to put Fox on the sex offender's register, saying in his view Fox's risk of reoffending was very low and could be met by special conditions which he imposed for six months.
These included that Fox not contact the victim, not associate with any person under the age of 16 except in the presence of an approved adult, to attend an assessment for the Wellstop programme and notify a probation officer of any work or relationships Fox was involved with.
This story originally appeared in the New Zealand Herald.
