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Offender Databases Michael Kohinga

Michael Te Aroha Kohinga

Alias

Michael Te Aroha Maru
Mikaera Te Aroha Maru
Michael Edward Maru

Offences

Home invasion and rape of a 62 year old woman in August 1995
Reoffended again after he was paroled and granted bail in September 2008
122 previous convictions

Victims

.

Offender Affiliations

.

Gang affiliations

none known

Age

Born 1960

Current Location

Prison

Parole/Release Dates

Sentenced to 8 years for the rape, 2 years for burglary, on top of an exisiting 5 year sentence he had just started serving, in August 1996
All these sentences were cumulative, unusually enough.
This was appealed in October 1996 but the appeal was thankfully unsuccessful
Sentenced to preventive detention with a 6 year 6 month non parole period in August 2009

Background
From the Fairfax Media 29th August 2009
A rape victim has shown defiance to her attacker by fronting up in court and saying she had changed her life to overcome the damage he had done to her. "There will never be a time in my life when a man can harm me or disrespect me again like this man has done," the 22-year-old said in the High Court at Wellington yesterday. She then sat at the back of the court and watched as Michael Maru, who turns 49 today, was given the open-ended sentence of preventive detention. The victim was 18 in 2005 when Maru tricked her into getting into his car, drove to an isolated area out of Wanganui and indecently assaulted and raped her.

Speaking after yesterday's sentencing, the woman said hearing the preventive detention sentence imposed felt "really good". The years since the rape had been extremely hard, especially when it seemed Maru had got away with it after the prosecution was stopped because of a two-year delay in bringing him to trial. That decision was overturned in the High Court, the trial proceeded and a jury found Maru guilty. Sergeant Andrew McDonald of Wanganui said he admired the victim's bravery and called her an inspiration. Maru was a dangerous predator but the woman's determination ensured he would not do this to anyone else. Maru must serve at least 6 years and 6 months of his preventive detention term before he can be considered for parole.

He was alerted to the possibility of preventive detention in 1995 when he was sentenced to 10 years' jail for rape and other sexual assaults against a 17-year-old hitchhiker he had picked up. Within a month of his release on those charges he raped the woman in Wanganui. Justice Ron Young said Maru continued to deny any wrongdoing, and he was considered to pose a high risk of reoffending. Maru was also sentenced yesterday to a concurrent term of 3 years 6 months' jail on drug charges. While living in Wellington after the rape charge was temporarily stopped, he had dropped his wallet in Cuba St. It was handed to police, who found 30 tabs of LSD and 1.1g of methamphetamine. A search of his cellphone records found evidence of his offering to supply drugs.

Waikato Times story, August 2nd, 1996
Hamilton police have been praised for their investigation of the rape of an elderly city woman. At the High Court in Hamilton yesterday, Justice Hammond sentenced Michael Te Aroha Kohinga, known as Maru, 36, to 10 years in jail for the rape near Hamilton Lake on August 11 last year. The judge said Maru would probably have got away with his crime had it not been for an efficient police investigation. Maru, a Hamilton musician already serving five years in jail, broke into the home of an elderly woman and raped her.

Today, detective Wayne Reed, who was in charge of the case, said a Trust Bank money card from the house was immediately cancelled. That card was pivotal in the investigation, because it was swallowed by the machine when Maru used it an hour later. The police accounted for every card swallowed that night after Maru's relatives told police he had boasted about using a card which was swallowed that night. Justice Hammond said Maru, a professional burglar, had been a menace to other people's property for years.

Dominion Post, Wellington, August 29th, 2009
A Rape victim has shown defiance to her attacker by fronting up in court and saying she had changed her life to overcome the damage he had done to her."There will never be a time in my life when a man can harm me or disrespect me again like this man has done," the 22-year-old said in the High Court at Wellington yesterday.

She then sat at the back of the court and watched as Michael Maru, who turns 49 today, was given the open-ended sentence of preventive detention. The victim was 18 in 2005 when Maru tricked her into getting into his car, drove to an isolated area out of Wanganui and indecently assaulted and raped her.

Speaking after yesterday's sentencing, the woman said hearing the preventive detention sentence imposed felt "really good".

The years since the rape had been extremely hard, especially when it seemed Maru had got away with it after the prosecution was stopped because of a two-year delay in bringing him to trial. That decision was overturned in the High Court, the trial proceeded and a jury found Maru guilty.

Sergeant Andrew McDonald of Wanganui said he admired the victim's bravery and called her an inspiration. Maru was a dangerous predator but the woman's determination ensured he would not do this to anyone else. Maru must serve at least 6 years 6 months of his preventive detention term before he can be considered for parole.

He was alerted to the possibility of preventive detention in 1995 when he was sentenced to 10 years' jail for rape and other sexual assaults against a 17-year-old hitchhiker he had picked up. Within a month of his release on those charges he raped the woman in Wanganui.

Justice Ron Young said Maru continued to deny any wrongdoing, and he was considered to pose a high risk of reoffending. Maru was also sentenced yesterday to a concurrent term of 3 years 6 months jail on drug charges.

While living in Wellington after the rape charge was temporarily stopped, he had dropped his wallet in Cuba St. It was handed to police, who found 30 tabs of LSD and 1.1g of methamphetamine. A search of his home revealed more drugs and paraphenalia

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Corrections and Additional Information
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