A Sri Lankan immigrant has been jailed and will be deported from New Zealand for raping an elderly woman and sexually assaulting another at a residential care facility.
Caregiver Nilushan Jayanga Silva Ginthota Vidhanage, 31, was convicted of rape and unlawful sexual connection over the attacks, and pleaded guilty to an unrelated intimidation charge for trying to snatch an 11-year-old girl off the street.
A court heard the sex predator stopped his car next to the girl, asked her if she wanted a cigarette, then a ride, and then “forcefully directed her to get in the car”. The girl ran away, noted his number plate, and reported him.
Vidhanage was sentenced 10 years and six months’ imprisonment by Judge Jane Farish in the Christchurch District Court in May, but could not be named until Monday when a suppression order was lifted. The name of the facility where he worked is permanently suppressed.
Judge Farish said Vidhanage would be deported back to Sri Lanka after serving one-third of his sentence, RNZ reported.
She noted in sentencing that Vidhanage continued to deny the offences and had shown no remorse, and said there were several aggravating features, including the victims’ vulnerability and a significant breach of trust.
“They were vulnerable, not only because of the position they were in, in the early hours of the morning in a facility where they should have felt entitled to be safe, but they had both physical and mental vulnerabilities. They were incredibly fragile,” the judge said.
“You’re there to provide cares because they can no longer do that for themselves, and you abuse that trust, and that has caused huge issues in relation to that feeling of trust that families have when they place their elderly loved ones into care.”
Crown prosecutor Courtney Martyn said it was hard to imagine a “more serious breach of trust”, other than sexual abuse of family members, and Vidhanage’s lawyer Thomas Harre said his client’s offending had caused “real harm”, including to his own family.
The manager of the care facility said in an affidavit she felt “absolute horror” when she first heard the allegations against Vidhanage.
“Residents should feel safe, cared for and loved in their home. This has shaken myself and staff to our core causing deep emotional distress which has exhibited physically in some of the team,” she said.
She claimed the facility had a “robust employment vetting process” which did not raise any concerns about Vidhanage’s suitability for the role, and therefore had no reason to question him.
The residential care facility was granted permanent name suppression in a separate hearing last month after its lawyer successfully argued there would be a “real risk of unfair reputational damage” to the company, staff and residents.
NZ Police said they did not believe there were any more victims, but asked anyone with concerns to come forward.
Header image: Christchurch District Court (Michal Klajban – CC BY-SA 4.0, Link).
The post Sri Lankan aged care worker, 31, jailed for raping elderly woman in New Zealand first appeared on The Noticer.
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