Historical sex abuse charges against a former Bay of Plenty man only made it to court because rape survivor advocate Louise Nicholas got involved, the man's lawyer has claimed.
However the Crown prosecutor says the man brazenly abused young girls, who were all afraid of him.
The 63-year-old accused, whose name is suppressed, has been on trial in the High Court at Rotorua since late October. He has denied all 49 historical sexual abuse charges against him. The nine complainants were aged between 5 and 16 at the time of offending that allegedly occurred from the 1970s to the late 1980s.
In her closing address yesterday, defence lawyer Tiffany Cooper said one woman reportedly made a rape complaint against the man to police in 2008 but nothing came of it.
"The only reason it [the complaint] got off the ground is because Louise Nicholas got in," Ms Cooper said.
"She's the one behind the claim that it's not been taken seriously by police. I said [to police] it was a PR disaster for them. She gets in the picture and bingo, we've got a problem. Within a year we've eight other complainants."
Ms Nicholas was in court to support the complainants.
The former Rotorua woman first came to New Zealand's attention in the 1990s when she alleged that several policemen raped her and obstructed evidence in their subsequent rape trials. She is now an advocate for Rape Prevention Education.
Crown prosecutor Greg Hollister-Jones said the man, at the time of the alleged offending, was known as "something of a legend" in his hometown and was "known to be a ladies man".
"The Crown says his quest for sex knew no boundaries. The age of the girls he chose to interfere with were all under 16. His offending was often brazen and in risky circumstances. He also had a reputation not to be messed with and the fear the complainants had of him is a consistent feature."
Judge John Fogarty is due to sum up today.