Seventy-year-old who groped girl, 14, on city bus placed on Child Sex Offender Register

Tuesday, 16 June 2026

A teenager travelling on a Hamilton bus was subjected to a shocking experience at the hands of an inebriated septuagenarian.

However, the act of reaching over and groping the girl sitting in the seat in front of him will itself have far-reaching consequences for Patrick Tuhura.

Among these will be a listing on the Child Sex Offenders’ Register for Tuhura, who came to the Hamilton District Court on Monday with one previous conviction for similar offending.

He has also been sentenced to three months of community detention and two years of intensive supervision - the maximum period allowable.

It was about 5.20pm on September 10 last year when the victim and a friend boarded a bus at the Hamilton Transport Centre. On their journey home the bus stopped at a bus stop and Tuhura got on board.

Although she did not know him, the victim recognised him as a regular bus user.

Tuhura sat down in the seat immediately behind the girl and after a time her friend got off at a stop.

Shortly after Tuhura touched her shoulder and asked her name. He was slurring his words and smelled of alcohol.

Shortly after, he pulled her head back and put his hands on her breast. The victim went into shock.

Another female passenger saw what was happening, and she confronted Tuhura. Then, she took the victim to the front of the bus and sat with her until she got to her destination.

The entire incident was captured on CCTV cameras inside the bus and, eventually, Tuhura was charged with doing an indecent act on a child under 16.

He had a previous conviction for similar offending, although the victim in that incident was an adult woman who was at the transport centre.

Prior to his sentencing he had been seen by a neuro-psychologist and a clinical psychologist, and had been diagnosed with a chronic vascular condition, known to cause dementia.

He also had a long history of heavy drinking and, noted Judge Glen Marshall, “a borderline IQ, not quite in the intellectual disability range”.

This had manifested in a poor awareness of the seriousness of his own poor behaviour.

It was a permanent and potentially progressive impairment - something that a prison would be poorly equipped to deal with, he said.

A pre-sentence report recommended he be barred from using public transport and restricted from access to any child under the age of 16.

In her submissions, Tuhura’s counsel Catriona Kunac said his offending was opportunistic and at the lower end of the spectrum for such crimes.

“Even lower offending can have a significant effect if it is a younger person,” replied Judge Marshall.

The judge paused for thought while deciding on whether Tuhura should be placed on the register, noting the victim’s family had expressed concerns about his behaviour.

“It certainly is a qualifying offence … In my view the threshold is met, and I’m satisfied there would be a risk to the safety of children generally.”