A man who worked as a director of troubled Northland big cat park Kamo Wildlife Sanctuary has been jailed for indecently assaulting four women.

Dale Vallance​ was sentenced to 35 months in prison for the offences, at the Whangārei District Court on Friday.

He was found guilty by jury trial for 10 out of 12 charges brought against him, for offending between December 2019 and April 2021.

The victims were indecently touched on their private parts, slapped on the bottom, subjected to crude sexual remarks and one had her head pulled towards Vallance’s crotch to simulate oral sex.

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The court heard how the victims had their lives turned upside down by the offending, with several unable to work, are struggling to hold down personal relationships, and one diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder.

Vallance was 60 to 62 at the time of the offending and was nearly three times the age of the youngest complainant, Crown lawyer Geraldine Kelly​ told the court.

He also abused a position of power and there was some premeditation to two of the offences, she said.

Vallance’s defence lawyer Jared Scott said his client had ongoing issues with ill-health and had no prior convictions of this nature.

Vallance was well-supported by his family, including three adult children and his ex-partner – who had hoped to come to the sentencing, Scott said.

But Judge Gene Tomlinson​ said the family support had no bearing on sentencing because Vallance had no hope of rehabilitation when he continued to deny his offending.

”You appear to think these actions are funny, are harmless … that is just so wrong. Your behaviour is not okay.”

Offenders like Vallance failed to see the impact of their offending on the victims, the judge said.

“The affects are profound, long-lasting and harmful.”

Tomlinson commended all the women who gave evidence at trial, saying their bravery at coming forward exposed Vallance’s offending.

While the judge believed Vallance’s behaviour was “long-established and entrenched” he had to give a small discount for a lack of prior convictions.

He also gave a discount for Vallance’s ill-health, after observing his tremors during the trial.

But Tomlinson said a jail sentence was appropriate for Vallance’s offending.

The jail sentence is the latest in a string of incidents for Kamo Wildlife Sanctuary, which closed in March as its operator Big Cats Limited went into liquidation.

However, director and his ex-partner, Janette Vallance, said he has had nothing to do with the park for nearly two years.

The park was made famous in 2004 with The Lion Man – a real-life TV series about its founder Craig Busch.

In 2007, Busch was convicted of assaulting his former partner and TV show co-star Karen Greybrook.

In 2009, senior zookeeper Dalu Mncube was mauled to death by a white tiger the park in front of horrified tourists. The zoo later pleaded guilty to health and safety charges.

Later that year, investigations revealed Busch declawed three-quarters of the park’s big cats so they were safer to interact with in a practice called “barbaric”.

The park was closed by the Ministry for Primary Industries in 2014 until the cats’ enclosures were upgraded and remained closed until December 2021, when it reopened as Kamo Wildlife Sanctuary.