A man found guilty of assaulting his stepdaughter's rapist says he's "disgusted" he was convicted, but says he'd do it again.
A Wellington jury found the man, who has name suppression to protect the identity of the girl, guilty of assaulting Jason Haward with intent to injure on Tuesday after just three-and-a-half hours of deliberation.
He was granted bail and will be sentenced in June, however, Judge Peter Butler indicated a prison sentence was unlikely.
The man called in to RadioLIVE on Wednesday morning to voice his dismay at how he was the one who ended up in court and the police response to his stepdaughter's rape case.
The confrontation happened on Kapiti Rd, north of Wellington in April last year when the man saw Haward get out of his car.
"I walked up, told him to stay there, we're ringing the police; he said 'no' and tried to walk off and tried to call my daughter a slut.
"As he tried to walk off, I tried to grab him, he took a swing at me and I ended up giving him a bit of a hiding," the man told RadioLIVE.
The man said it wasn't a "deliberate straight-out attack".
Haward, who was convicted of the rape and sentenced to seven-and-a-half years in prison, received a black eye, loose tooth, a minor brain injury which caused seizures and a lump on the back of his head. He was taken to hospital following the attack.
It would be another six weeks after attack before Haward was arrested for the rape.
"When he gets out of hospital, he's free to roam the streets. He's roaming up and down past our house on a daily basis for the next six weeks until he gets arrested," the man said.
The man didn't believe the context around the attack was taken into consideration when he was charged and he couldn't bring it up as part of his defence.
"The only reason I managed to get there was managing to put off my court case until after his court case was finished."
The man said he'd offered to plead guilty to assault with a conviction and discharge, but that deal wasn't accepted.
He said in his initial dealings with police, he thought Haward would be arrested instead of him.
"I was led to believe he was going to be placed under arrest and be charged with the rape of my daughter, and it turns out it's the other way around."
The man says he's tried to keep the case details away from his 15-year-old stepdaughter.
"That's why I didn't have any of my family come to the court case. I want her to be able to let it go, but it's very hard for us to let it go."
He said if he had a chance to re-live the encounter, he'd do the same thing again.
Newshub.
