12 years in prison for former pastor

By Stephanie Arthur-Worsop
New Zealand Herald
March 4, 2015

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11411727

A former Rotorua pastor who was extradited from the United States to face child sex abuse charges has been jailed for more than 12 years.

James Leland Watkins, 65 was sentenced in the High Court at Rotorua yesterday to 12 years and three months' imprisonment after previously admitting 27 charges of sexual abuse against two victims, including six counts of rape.

The offending happened in Rotorua between 2000 and 2006, and the majority of the charges were representative, meaning the offending happened more than once.

His sentence carries a minimum non-parole period of five years and six months.

Watkins was extradited from the United States to face the charges. An American-born New Zealand citizen, he had returned to live in his country of birth in 2006.

Watkins pleaded guilty to most of the charges in April 2014, and pleaded guilty to the rape charges later that year.

His victims were 7 and 8 years old when the offending began, which lasted into their teenage years.

Reading aloud their victim impact statements, they said Watkins had deeply affected their mental, physical and spiritual wellbeing.

One said she took antidepressant medication as a result of the abuse and would likely be on them for the rest of her life.

"I still get flashbacks and nightmares about what he did to me and I can no longer find comfort in church because that is where we met him and I associate church with my sexual abuse."

The other victim said for many years she felt ashamed of what had happened and had attempted suicide more than a dozen times.

She said at the time of the abuse she thought it was normal, until she was 11 and took sexual education classes at school.

"I felt worthless, ashamed, a waste of space and I hated myself.

"As the years went on I hid my secret and my feelings worsened, I was depressed all the time and self harmed."

She said she had since turned her life around and wanted to work to prevent this kind of offending happening to others.

"He may have taken my childhood but he has not taken my life and I want my daughter to grow up in a world where there are not people like him."

Justice Mark Woolford said Watkins had close ties with Rotorua churches and it was through this he established a relationship with the victims.

Justice Woolford said it was clear the offending had a significant and permanent impact on the girls.

"The victims were both particularly vulnerable being only 7 and 8 years old when the offending began and it was a gross breach of trust given the position of authority and trust you had with the family."

Justice Woolford said that trust allowed the offending to be prolonged over a number of years.