40 under-age sex charges

A Tauranga man facing multiple charges of sexual abuse against girls aged under 16 has been back in court.
Richard Anthony Clark, 41, of Welcome Bay appeared in Tauranga District Court yesterday before Judge Bernard Kendall for a judicial intervention hearing.
The charges include 23 of indecent assault and 17 of sexual violation by unlawful sexual connection - some of these charges relate to allegations of abuses against a girl aged under 12 - plus one charge of sexual grooming.
Some of the charges are representative.
The charges stem from allegations of abuses which the complainants say occurred either in the Bay Plenty and/or Auckland between 2000 and 2010.
Clark's counsel Rachael Adams told Judge Kendall that there were no issues that would impede the trial committal process taking place.
Clark, who is yet to formally enter pleas, was further remanded on bail on strict terms. He is due back in court on November 9 for a post-committal conference.