A 68-year-old man has been convicted of repeatedly raping and indecently assaulting a young girl in Rotorua between 1966 and 1976.
A jury in the High Court at Rotorua yesterday found Marama Rameka, 68, a sickness beneficiary of Tauranga, guilty of three charges of indecently assaulting a child under 12 and two charges of rape, all relating to the same complainant. All were representative, meaning the offending happened more than once.
Rameka, formerly of Rotorua, was found not guilty on the sixth charge - an alleged rape in the early 1990s.
The case ran for six days with interpreters mouthing and signing the proceedings to Rameka, who is deaf. The jury, reduced to 11 members early, took just over three hours to reach its verdict.
After the verdict, defence lawyer Jonothan Briscoe requested Rameka be granted bail pending sentencing, however that was denied by Justice Paul Heath.