Sentencing — sexual connection with a young person under 16 — failing to answer bail — attempting to pervert the course of justice — child sex offenders register — grooming —Sentencing Act 2002, s 27 — R v Boyd (2004) 21 CRNZ 169. The defendant appeared for sentencing on charges of sexual connection with a young person under 16, failing to answer bail and two charges of attempting to pervert the course of justice. The defendant had groomed a 14 year old girl in person and over text. On one occasion he digitally penetrated her vagina. On another occasion he gave her alcohol and pulled her head onto his penis causing her to vomit. Also on that occasion he threatened to call her home if she did not take her pants off and lie face down on the floor. After the victim complied he raped her, texting her later to warn he had ejaculated inside of her. Aggravating features of the offending were the harm caused to the victim, both at the time of the offending and subsequently, including her vomiting, her distress and the need to engage with psychological counselling to cope. Also taken in account was breach of trust and the targeting of a young and emotionally vulnerable victim. Further, the offending was premeditated, it involved grooming and sexual text messages, plying the victim with alcohol and telling her threatening stories about his gang involvement. On top of this, the defendant tried to offer the victim $10,000 to drop the charges, leading to the charges for attempting to pervert the course of justice. A starting sentence of 4 years' imprisonment was adopted for the lead offence of sexual connection and was uplifted by eight months for the other charges. The defendant received a 25 per cent discount for his guilty plea. He also received a six-month discount for being a model prisoner and showing some understanding of his offending. He showed limited remorse, having spent most of the time denying the offending. The final sentence was three years' imprisonment. The defendant would also be registered on the child sex offenders register. Judgment Date: 27 February 2019.