Hineteaorangi Mereteawhi Sciascia-Maraki

A father who assaulted his baby daughter before she died has been sent to jail for four years and three months. Rawiri Sciascia​​, known also as David Sciascia, 28, assaulted his seven-month-old daughter Hineteaorangi Maraki and caused grievous bodily harm with reckless disregard in October 2019. He denied the charge but was found guilty by Judge Bridget Mackintosh following a judge-alone trial in March. Sciascia was sentenced by Judge Mackintosh before a large crowd of whānau​ in Hastings District Court on Friday. Among the whānau was Hineteaorangi’s​ mother, who is still in a relationship with Sciascia​, and their recently born baby. Crown solicitor Steve Manning reminded the judge that the level of force required to cause the injuries to Hineteaorangi​ would have been, in an expert’s description, “enormous”. He also raised the breach of trust shown by a father to his daughter. She noted that Sciascia still denied the charges, that the victim was very vulnerable, that it was not one-off offending, and the extent of the force used by him against Hineteaorangi​. She sentenced him to four years and three months in jail, and – at the Crown’s request – a minimum non-parole period of two years. Hineteaorangi Maraki went to bed with her dad a happy, well-fed and healthy baby girl on October 7, 2019. The next morning she was found in that bed in a lifeless state. An autopsy found she had a fractured skull and had suffered blunt force trauma to her head. At trial the court was shown a series of videos and photos taken of the baby in the afternoon and evening of that day, showing her to be in good health. In a series of recorded police interviews played to the court, Sciascia repeatedly denied causing the injuries. He did, however, plead guilty to a representative charge of assaulting his daughter at various times in her short life. These included “whacking her on her arse” and pinching her cheeks so hard it caused bruising. He was also found guilty of an earlier assault with a cellphone. At trial forensic pathologist Kate White described to the court two separate injuries to Hineteaorangi's​ head, saying they were most likely to have been inflicted within 24 hours of her death. Senior paediatrician and former Children’s Commissioner Dr Russell Wills told the court the types of injuries suffered by Hineteaorangi​ were “very substantial” and it required “enormous force to fracture the bones of the skull”. “The trauma to a child of these bruises would be profoundly painful and distressing ... They would be inconsolable for some time, unless they were so concussed they were semi-conscious,” he said. Wills said there was no way Hineteaorangi​ could have had the injuries at the time she went to bed. Source: https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/crime/125558010/father-jailed-for-....

SCIASCIA-MARAKI, Hineteaorangi Mereteawhi. Passed away on October 8, 2019. Loved daughter of Nohokainga Pera Maraki-Wicken and David Rawiri Sciascia. Mokopuna tuarua of Nohokainga (Bella) and Brian (Deceased), Doris and Charlie (Deceased), Judy and Raymond (Deceased). Service at 12pm on Sunday October 13, at Rongomaraeroa Marae, Porangahau. C. H. B. Funeral Services Ltd, FDANZ Waipukurau. Published by Hawke's Bay Today on Oct. 12, 2019.