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Warning: This story contains content relating to sexual harm that may be upsetting for some readers.
A teen who had to wait almost three years to face her mentally ill abuser in court says the long and frustrating process to getting justice was “bulls***”.
Now, the proceedings have come to an end and she feels she has been left without closure.
Nicolas Andrey Santos Florez was sentenced to 10.5 months of home detention for sexual violation.
Now 19, the victim feels Santos Florez’s mental health was given priority over her wellbeing right up to the day of sentencing, last month in the Christchuch District Court.
It’s something that victim advocates believe should change, telling NZME that courts need to focus on the victim’s needs and not the offender’s.
Santos Florez, a refugee from Columbia, was sentenced to 10 and a half months of home detention for the sexual violation by unlawful connection of the teen.
Judge Tom Gilbert, the Crown and the defence agreed he had a history of drug use, which led to psychosis and a diagnosis of schizophrenia. The disorder became a significant factor in the sentencing outcome.
Nicolas Andrey Santos Florez has a history of drug use, which led to psychosis and a diagnosis of schizophrenia.
The judge said a psychiatrist had advised that schizophrenia had affected Santos Florez’s ability to make clear and logical decisions and he was hearing voices at times.
“The psychiatrist makes those points because that affects how much blame can be attached to you,” Judge Gilbert said.
“The prosecution accepts that report and I also have to accept it. The other thing the psychiatrist says is that sending you to prison would be extremely harmful to you because of your personal circumstances, so that explains why I reduced the starting point from three years to two and a half years.”
Following the sentencing, the victim told NZME she felt the justice system had placed Santos Florez’s mental health needs over hers.
She said proceedings had “dragged out” for too long, and the delays, on top of her dealing with the sexual assault, had taken a toll on her.
In addition to the widely reported delays in court cases due to a backlog in the system, the teen said her case took even longer because of the steps the court had to take to consider Santos Florez’s mental health, such as assessing his fitness to plead.
She felt her case was not treated with importance and said the justice system needed to change.
“They need to be quicker and prioritise these cases more.
“It’s important to put it through court quicker so women can get on with their lives and get closure; I don’t feel like I have closure.
“Reading my victim statement in court helped, but I was embarrassed in court as I felt they prioritised his mental health over my statement.”
The teen now needs medication to help her sleep and suffers from nightmares and suicidal thoughts as a result of the June 2022 incident, which also left her trust in people “really messed up”.
She was offered counselling services and went to a few appointments but felt “it didn’t really help”, and also received a one-off Victim Support payment of $500.
However, she said police had been supportive over the years, keeping her up to date on the numerous procedural hearings.
As for Santos Florez’s sentence, it was not what the teen considered justice.
“In every case that involves not consenting or unlawful sexual behaviour I think deserves prison time and better punishment.”
The violation continued for 30 minutes
The sentence came 32 months after the evening of the assault, when the victim stayed at a female friend’s house.
There was a small flatwarming celebration at the address where the friend lived with her boyfriend.
The boyfriend had also invited his 22-year-old friend, Santos Florez.
Upon going to bed at the house, the victim and two of her female friends slept in the same bed and were joined by the victim’s friend’s boyfriend and Santos Florez, who both slept on the end of the bed.
The victim felt uncomfortable with the men on the bed and they were both asked to sleep on the floor.
At 7.30am the following day, Santos Florez got back on to the end of the bed where the victim was sleeping, reached up her pyjama pant leg and sexually violated her.
The victim woke and, not knowing what to do, she pretended to snore to show that she was asleep and not consenting.
Sexual violence survivor advocate Louise Nicholas. Photo / Mark Mitchell
The violation continued for about 30 minutes until the victim got out of bed, left the room and told her friends what had happened.
When spoken to by police, Santos Florez said he had touched the victim and that she had asked him to.
He said he was unsure whether she was awake or asleep at the time, and that when he stopped touching her, she left the bed quickly.
An ‘offender-centric’ system
Victim’s advocate Louise Nicholas, of the Louise Nicholas Trust for sexual violence survivors, told NZME there was no consistency across the courts with different judges, prosecutors and lawyers on “their own bandwagon”.
“It was a sexual assault, and it should be imprisonment,” she said of the case.
“We are starting to see this time and time again; they [defendants] play on it [ill mental health], and it is working. It does my head in.
“The courts are not focusing on the crime. We have to help Kiwis understand it is about the victim, not the offender.”
Victim Support strategy and advocacy general manager Dr Petrina Hargrave said many victims told the agency that their greatest struggle was not just delays, but how “offender-centric” the justice system felt.
Victim Support strategy and advocacy general manager Dr Petrina Hargrave. Photo / Supplied
“Delays in justice are not just an administrative issue; they are a human issue,” she told NZME.
“Every postponed court date is another day a victim waits for safety, for acknowledgement, for justice.”
Hargrave said delays could further discourage victims from coming forward, specifically when it came to sex crimes and family violence, both of which were already underreported.
“The emotional cost of reliving the trauma and facing potential reprisals makes the process daunting enough, without the added uncertainty of when the system will respond.
“For those who do take the courageous step of engaging with the justice system, many find it revolves around the offender.
“Prolonged delays exacerbate this imbalance, reminding victims that they are not the priority in the process. This means delays can be deeply disempowering for victims when the system is already stacked against them.”
Ministry of Justice chief operating officer Carl Crafar could not comment on individual cases or judicial decisions, but said the ministry had seen a larger volume of “complex cases entering our district court system”.
Ministry of Justice chief operating officer Carl Crafar. Photo / Supplied
“This has resulted in more adjournments, delays, and a growing backlog of active cases.
“The Ministry of Justice, alongside our sector partners, is taking a whole of justice sector approach, alongside the judiciary, to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of the court system.”
Crafar said several initiatives were under way to improve the timely delivery of justice in the district courts.
“The current and previous governments have been working to help ensure victims receive fair, respectful, and supportive treatment throughout court proceedings.
“This includes sentencing reforms that will strengthen the criminal justice system and ensure victims of crime are prioritised.”
Won’t be deported
In New Zealand, a refugee can be deported if they commit a serious crime, but despite that being the case for Santos Florez, he will not be deported.
Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment national compliance manager for immigration Fadia Mudafar confirmed Santos Florez arrived in New Zealand in March 2014 as part of the refugee quota and was granted a residence class visa.
Because he is recognised as a refugee or protected person in New Zealand, he is unable to be deported as per the Immigration Act 2009 (the Act), Mudafar said.
In addition, the act sets out the criteria which must be met for a residence class visa holder to be liable for deportation for criminal offending.
“Liability depends on the length of time that the person has held residence, when the offence was committed, and the sentence that the person receives,” Mudafar said.
“Given that Mr Santos had been a resident for more than five years when the offending was committed, a prison sentence of five years or more would be required for deportation liability to be triggered.”
Al Williams is an Open Justice reporter for the New Zealand Herald, based in Christchurch. He has worked in daily and community titles in New Zealand and overseas for the last 16 years. Most recently he was editor of the HC Post, based in Whangamata. He was previously deputy editor of Cook Islands News.
