Pastor Jone Conikeli denied the offending and was expected to appeal against his convictions

A Hutt Valley church pastor has been jailed for four years and 11 months for sex offences against two girls.

Jone Draiva Conikeli, 42, from Stokes Valley, still denied the offending and was expected to appeal against his convictions, a judge in the Wellington District Court was told on Friday.

Neither girl gave a statement for sentencing about the affects of the offending. The father of the younger victim wrote a victim impact statement in which he said Conikeli could only be forgiven. The family had moved on as if nothing had happened and he wanted to keep it that way.

Judge Bill Hastings said he was unable to empathise with that view.

"Something did happen and it needs to be punished."

However, the judge said he did not need victim impact statements to know the serious affects offending of that nature had on children and young people. They were likely to carry the impact with them for the rest of their lives, the judge said.

A jury found Conikeli guilty of assaulting a 15-year-old girl with intent to sexually violate her, and two charges of performing an indecent act on an 11-year-old girl.

The 15-year-old had managed to escape when Conikeli carried her into a bathroom and tried to force her to perform a sexual act on him, the judge said.

Conikeli had touched the younger girl's breasts while hugging her, and on another occasion he touched her genital area, he said.

The community had respected Conikeli due and he had relied on that to conceal his offending, the judge said.

He jailed Conikeli for four years 11 months.

Conikeli was a pastor at the Kingdom Ambassador International Fellowship church's Wellington chapter.