Lifeline for teen rape appeal

The Governor-General may be asked to rule in the case of step-uncle convicted of molesting a 13-year-old. Photo / Greg Bowker

The rape of a 13-year-old girl has been referred to the Governor-General after evidence emerged that she was impregnated by one man, but forced to accuse his brother.

The case is being called "a substantial miscarriage of justice" by a lawyer acting for the man hoping to have his conviction overturned.

An appeal to the Supreme Court alleging that key evidence was not presented and that the accused's counsel acted incompetently was dismissed for lack of jurisdiction.

However, Chief Justice Sian Elias and Justices Peter Blanchard and Andrew Tipping have thrown the case a lifeline by suggesting it be heard by Lieutenant General Sir Jerry Mateparae, sworn in as Governor-General last month.

The accused whose name is suppressed to protect the victim, his step-niece is serving an eight-year sentence after being convicted of sexually violating the child in 2007.

His brother, the victim's stepfather, is also in prison serving 12 years on three counts of raping and two counts of indecently assaulting the girl. He pleaded guilty after she became pregnant and DNA testing revealed him to be the father. The foetus was aborted.

The step-uncle's counsel on appeal, Rennie Gould, has argued "a substantial miscarriage of justice", saying the jury which convicted her client was not aware his brother was to plead guilty to sexually abusing the victim.

It was also not told that the girl's mother had been charged with assaulting the girl in a bid to dissuade her from blaming the woman's husband.

The mother was later jailed for five years over the assault.

Gould said an appeal by her client in 2007 failed, in part because his counsel at the time did not put evidence of the mother's alleged coercion to the court.

"A greater injustice was suffered by the applicant on appeal," she said in her submission for leave to appeal to the Supreme Court.

In an affidavit in support of the appeal, obtained by the Herald on Sunday, the victim's stepfather said: "I am certain my brother did not in any way sexually abuse my stepdaughter and was never alone with her. I believe my stepdaughter only accused my brother because her mother, my wife, told her to. My wife later told me she tried to protect me because she did not want me to go to prison as she loved me, and she wanted me to be there to look after her and the family."

The Supreme Court application was supported by affidavits by the prisoners' sisters and mother. One of the sisters said the victim had told her she had lied about having sex with her step-uncle. Gould said she would be pursuing the case through the Governor-General's office. The victim had suffered "awful" treatment at the hands of her family.