Auckland man James Walter Skelton was sentenced to home detention in 2024 after he was convicted of repeatedly sexually abusing a 9-year-old girl.  Skelton, then 78, met the child and her family in the small Coromandel town where they both have beach houses. He became a close friend and was “trusted like a grandfather”.  He continually denied any wrongdoing, but after a trial, a jury found him guilty on two charges of doing an indecent act on the child.  Two days after his sentence and post-detention conditions ended – which included a ban on entering the town or having any contact with people under 16, Skelton returned to the scene of the crime.  The victim’s parents are devastated and feel there is no way to protect their daughter from seeing the man who destroyed her young life.  They spoke to senior journalist Anna Leask.  James Skelton returned to the Coromandel town where the offending happened days after his release. Photo . Supplied  When they found out the man convicted of violating and traumatising their little girl had returned to Hahei and would be staying – likely often – near their beloved family beach house, Dan and Louise were overwhelmed with grief, anger, powerlessness, injustice and disgust.  “He finished his probation on Thursday last week, and came back to Hahei on Saturday,” said Dan.  “Despite everything, our daughter has no legal protection, while he is free to travel and live in close proximity to the victim.  “It’s been three-and-a-half years, and we’re having to go through it all over again now that the sentence is finished. It’s all coming back to us again.”  Hahei has a population of about 350 people, and while it spikes to more than 3000 over the summer, the local community remains tight-knit.  Dan and Louise said the town was their family’s haven but that was destroyed when Skelton was caught abusing their child.  He was a close friend. A trusted member of their family “extension”.  Dan and Louise’s kids loved him. They spent countless hours with him when they were in Hahei.  “You can’t actually capture the emotion, the journey, the derailing of her life, which then impacted on ours, our families and our friends.” Dan said.  “The journey was unpreparable and heartbreaking.  “You can’t actually explain the experience or the emotion of cradling your screaming daughter in the middle of the night with relentless nightmares, trying to rebuild her confidence and trust in others, dealing with her refusing to go to school, not wanting to wear togs for fear of body exposure … and general basic life … and now to seeing him again.”  Abuser trusted like a grandfather  In November 2024, James “Jim” Skelton was sentenced to 10 months’ home detention by Judge Anna-Marie Skellern in the North Shore District Court.  Earlier that year, he stood trial on five counts of doing an indecent act on the 9-year-old girl.  He pleaded not guilty to all of the charges.  But after hearing all of the evidence, including the young victim’s harrowing testimony and cross-examination across multiple days, a jury found him guilty on two counts.  Judge Skellern’s sentencing notes were provided to the Herald by the court and outline Skelton’s offending.  The first sexual assault happened in April 2022 when the victim and her family were at Skelton’s house for dinner.  A month later, the families ran into each other at a local cafe.  Skelton later walked with the child back to his house and when they went inside alone, he assaulted her again.  “The impact on the family has been significant to say the least,” said Judge Skellern.  “The victim’s father and mother speak of the severe impact on the family, their feelings of disbelief, their feelings of anger, their feelings of being deceived and their deep sadness.  “They refer to the changes in this child and the overwhelming, as I would...