Uncle 'referred complainant to a social worker'; ‘I didn’t want to hear any more’

A109 Light Utility Helicopter flight with mayor Gisborne City from the air in November 2023.

The uncle of a complainant in a child sex abuse trial says the accused’s suggestion he put his niece up to making false allegations is “ridiculous”.

The accused, in his 80s, has been on trial in Gisborne District Court since Monday after pleading not guilty to 34 charges alleging various and repeated sexual violations by unlawful sexual connection, indecent acts, and a rape of the complainant – offending she claims happened when she was aged between about seven and 16 and in the care of her grandmother and the accused, her step-grandfather.

He cannot be named for legal reasons.  He denies any offending, telling police the complainant was put up to making false allegations by her uncle (his wife’s son) who harboured a longstanding grievance against him, blaming him for the demise of his parents’ marriage.

The complainant had been in the shared custody of her grandmother and grandfather until their marriage ended and her grandmother married the accused.

In evidence for the Crown on day two of the trial yesterday the complainant’s uncle said the accused’s claim against him was “ridiculous”.

“I would never, ever try to pursue these allegations because of that. I just think that’s ridiculous, but I’m not surprised.”

The complainant’s disclosure to him about the alleged offending had come one night when they were having a cigarette together after his father’s (the complainant’s real grandfather’s) tangi. “She started breaking down and crying and said something like, ‘I’ve got something to tell  you’.

“She said to me that (the accused) had been touching her.  I didn’t want to know any details but I asked what she meant and said, ‘did he root you’? And she said yes — that it had been going on. I didn’t want to hear any more. I referred her to a social worker that referred her to the right agencies.  I still don’t know the full details ‘cos I told her to talk to (the counsellor) ‘cos it was heartbreaking enough to hear what I heard.”

He was aware his father (the complainant’s real grandfather) had been notified about the girl saying inappropriate sexual things at primary school when she was about eight. His father had his suspicions about the possible cause of it but had been unsuccessful in “getting to the bottom of it”. Losing shared custody of the girl was hard for his father who remained concerned about her.

In earlier evidence yesterday, the complainant said the accused warned her when he first began abusing her not to tell anyone. However, over the years she had at times tried to tell other family members and drop hints about the offending, but had got nowhere.  She told her uncle because she felt safe around him and thought he would believe her. And that night she was upset her step-grandfather had attended her  grandfather’s tangi. He shouldn’t have been there, she said.

She didn’t know people could complain about these sorts of things to police and only did so after she felt adequately supported as an adult to do so.

She was sad her allegations meant she no longer had a relationship with her grandmother who had turned a blind eye to the offending. Despite that she still loved the woman who had largely raised her and was like a second mother.

“I feel like I couldn’t have a relationship with her without him and the abuse and it broke my heart to leave her behind. I still love her, but I can’t condone what she allowed.”

In cross-examination, counsel Nicola Graham put it to the complainant that none of the offending ever happened and that some of the allegations didn’t make sense given the girl’s grandmother would have been there. The woman was emphatic it had. The presence of her grandmother in the house at times hadn’t deterred her step-grandfather. His behaviour wasn’t always overt. Sometimes he had also taken blatant risks, the complainant said.

Ms Graham also questioned the complainant’s claim of being raped. “You were around 16 and he would’ve been 76 and you’re asking us to believe he forcibly held you down and raped you? it didn’t happen did it?”

The complainant said it did.

On day one of the trial, the jury was given general information about the nature of disclosures by sexually abused children, their behaviour and common misconceptions about it.

Judge Warren Cathcart is presiding.