Ronald Van Der Plaat

Ronald Van Der Plaat performed acts of "indescribable cruelty."

14 years for depraved father
29.11.2000

A 66-year-old Dutchman has been sentenced to 14 years' jail for subjecting his daughter to years of depraved and bizarre sexual slavery.

Ronald Van Der Plaat, of Te Atatu, was found guilty by a jury in the High Court at Auckland last month of representative charges of rape, sexual violation and indecent assault from 1983, when he and his daughter moved to New Zealand from Vanuatu, until 1992.

The jury had heard that the offending started in Vanuatu when the girl was 9 and continued for 23 years, though Van Der Plaat was tried only for offences committed in this country.

He would ply his daughter with alcohol and the sedative Mandrax before sex. An overdose of the drug in the Solomon Islands resulted in heart problems for the woman, now aged 40, and she has to wear a pacemaker.

Passing sentence, Justice Tony Randerson told Van Der Plaat that he had effectively made his daughter his sexual slave, totally dominating and controlling every aspect of her life.

The woman, who now lives in Germany, was diagnosed as suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder - a condition which meant she could not escape even when the opportunity arose.

Justice Randerson said that the sex offences were bizarre in the extreme and could only be described as depraved.

Van Der Plaat's sexual fantasies included the particularly degrading practice of tying his naked daughter by the ankles to the ceiling and performing acts of "indescribable cruelty."

She was his sexual plaything and he took sadistic pleasure in the pain he inflicted on her, said the judge. He also took disgusting photographs of her.

The woman had been deprived of her childhood and her youth.

Justice Randerson said that she became pregnant but miscarried. She used the pregnancy to finally get away from her domineering father.

However, he had pursued her and tracked her down with her new husband in Germany.

Even now she feared for her safety.

The judge said that Van Der Plaat maintained his innocence with what he described as "breathtaking arrogance," given the weight of evidence against him.

Earlier, crown prosecutor Philip Hamlin, appearing with Deb Bell, said that the breach of trust was "palpable."

Van Der Plaat had exploited his position and convinced his daughter that this was a normal father-daughter relationship.

"The domination and control he had over his daughter enabled him to live out his bizarre fantasies at the expense of the victim," said Mr Hamlin.

Defence counsel Allan Roberts said Van Der Plaat maintained his innocence and viewed the jury's verdict as"perverse."

"He doesn't see himself as a bad person. He doesn't see himself as a person who ought to be incarcerated."

Mr Roberts called for a sentence which was not crushing. Even an effective 10-year term would mean that Van Der Plaat would be 76 years old when he was released.

Van Der Plaat will be eligible for parole after serving two-thirds of his 14-year sentence.

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