A Southland immigrant has been given a jail sentence for indecently assaulting a masseuse.

There was no "happy ending" for a Southland immigrant who was found guilty of sexually violating and indecently assaulting a masseuse.

Judge Bernadette Farnan sentenced the man, who has interim name suppression, to two years' and four months' jail when he appeared in the Invercargill District Court on Wednesday after a jury trial in October.

In sentencing, Judge Farnan said the man arranged for the female masseuse to give him a three hour massage at his house in June 2018.

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During a previous massage appointment, the woman had told him she did not provide "happy endings", Judge Farnan said.

"You were seeking a 'happy ending' and she made it clear it was not on offer," she said.

The woman allowed him to place his hands on her thighs, but when he started moving his hands around she told him to stop, the court was told.

After the three hour massage, the man asked to extend the massage for longer, which the woman accepted because she needed money, Judge Farnan said.

There was then an altercation where the man digitally penetrated the woman and indecently assaulted her, the court was told.

In his submissions, before the sentence was handed down, defence lawyer Hugo Young said the man and his wife were in New Zealand on working visas.

The wife would not divorce the man for religious reasons, and so would go back to Sri Lanka with him after he served his sentence.

The man had lived a quiet, married life before the incident, Young said.

The impact [of a conviction] on his wife in Sri Lankan society would be severe, he said.

Judge Farnan said prison would be difficult for the man because of cultural differences and as an immigrant he would not be able to partake in any educational programmes.

The man seemed more egalitarian than others in Sri Lankan culture but continued to maintain his innocence, Judge Farnan said.