67-year-old man touched teenager on Hamilton bus and told her to “just let it happen” if she was raped

Although there were only about 25 passengers on the bus, he was sitting right next to the victim.

He started talking to her about school and giving her life advice. Then the conversation took a different turn.

McMinn asked her if she knew what she would do if someone tried to rape her. At that moment, he put his hand on her lower leg, causing her to freeze in shock and feel “gross.”

He then began to harass the victim, asking her what she would do if someone grabbed her. She eventually replied that she did not know.

McMinn responded by giving her self-defense advice while moving his hand further up her leg.

He further asked the teenager what she would do if someone tried to rape her.

When she said she didn’t know, McMinn told her to “just let it happen. It would be faster if I ran away without my pants on.”

Then the bus came to the victim’s stop and he stood up so she could get off.

When police later questioned him, McMinn admitted that he sat next to the victim and asked her about the rape, but he denied touching her.

He appeared in court yesterday for sentencing on one count of indecent assault.

At the hearing, Judge Noel Cocurullo called McMinn’s comments “totally inappropriate” before noting “disturbing” comments in a pre-sentence report, saying he only pleaded guilty “for convenience because it would put you in danger of your home.”

However, he pointed out that a guilty plea would legally mean that he admitted to having committed this “serious crime”.

“It is worrying that you go further and not only suggest in the criminal record that this is a confession of convenience, but that, contrary to your guilty plea, you say that you did not touch this young woman’s thigh and that she is lying.

“My only conclusion that can be drawn from this is, first, that you feel absolutely no remorse for your conduct in pleading guilty and, second, that you have a strong sense of entitlement which consists in believing that your view is actually preferable to theirs, notwithstanding the fact that you pleaded guilty in court and therefore legally accept this serious offence.”

In deciding whether he should be placed on the child sex offenders register, the judge took into account the victim’s vulnerability, the public place where the incident occurred and the age difference.

Although he had concerns about being sentenced to intensive probation given McMinn’s “distorted account of events,” he was unable to serve his sentence under electronic monitoring or wear an electronic bracelet on his ankle for health reasons.

The judge ordered McMinn to be registered with the CSO and sentenced him to two years of intensive probation.

Belinda Feek is a reporter for Open Justice based in Waikato. She has worked at NZME for nine years and has been a journalist for 20 years.