A Samoan man convicted of three indecent assaults on a 12 year old girl has been allowed to stay in New Zealand because a deportation order has been overturned.
The tribunal deciding William Savali's case heard the victim would be stigmatised in her home village in Samoa when she visited if he was deported there and his offending became known.
Relatives told the Deportation Review Tribunal that villagers may blame the victim, thinking her promiscuous, and making it impossible for her to return on holiday.
Savali, who's 26, was convicted in 2005 and jailed for 16 months.
His partner told the hearing she and their daughter would not join him if he was deported to Samoa.
