In 2003, the real offender, Nicholas Reekie, was found guilty and convicted of the crime. He was sentenced to preventive detention with a minimum non-parole period of 20 years. He was convicted on 31 charges, including abduction and rape, against four females aged between 11 and 69. The girl in this case was his youngest victim, but an inquiry into the miscarriage of justice turned up a police memo suggesting the young girl had lied to the police and to the court about Dougherty, and had allowed Reekie into her room. Altogether, Reekie has more than 100 convictions, including 23 for sexual offending and 12 for other violent crimes. Since being sentenced, he has incurred 76 misconduct charges, and made more than 2,000 complaints about his treatment in prison.
Role of media Dougherty's case became the subject of the 2008
New Zealand telemovie
Until Proven Innocent which documents the
miscarriage of justice that led to his imprisonment. The film described the campaign to overturn his conviction and the roles played by journalist Donna Chisholm, Dougherty's lawyer Murray Gibson, and Arie Geursen a scientist who all advocated on his behalf. From prison, Nicholas Reekie made a complaint to the
Broadcasting Standards Authority (BSA) that the film was inaccurate and breached his privacy. The BSA rejected the complaint after which Reekie appealed that decision to the High Court. The Court dismissed his appeal as "frivalous and vexatious", adding that "Mr Reekie's submissions display a remarkable lack of comprehension of the enormity of his crimes." == Aftermath ==