Caregiver on trial for allegedly sexually abusing disabled

A man is on trial in the Napier District Court for the alleged sexual abuse of four significantly impaired people in his care. Photo / File

A male caregiver is facing a raft of charges that allege he sexually abused disabled children and youth while they were in his care.

The man, who cannot be named, is standing trial in the Napier District Court this week after allegedly abusing four complainants with significant impairments and disabilities over the course of several years.

He is charged with five counts of sexually exploiting a person with a significant impairment, six of rape, two of indecent assault and three each of attempted sexual violation and sexual conduct with a child under 12-years-old. Most of these charges are representative.

Crown prosecutor Jo Rielly opened the Crown's case yesterday by telling the jury the complainants were placed in his care by a variety of agencies including Child, Youth and Family and Idea Services.

At times, they were in the sole care of the defendant and it was during these periods that he sexually abused them, the court heard.

The four complainants, two of whom were to give evidence at the trial, had each stayed at the defendant's home for varied periods of time.

One complainant with a significant intellectual impairment had lived with the man for years and said in court that she remembered first being touched by him when she was 13-years-old.

She told the court she would feel scared when he was "getting all crazy" and hadn't told anyone about what was happening as she feared she would get into trouble.

This touching eventually progressed to full intercourse and there were also occasions when he made her watch pornography, she said.

While most of the offending occurred in a household setting, the court heard she had once been in a car with the defendant who was driving when he parked in a secluded public place and forced her into a sex act.

"It was disgusting. It was yucky," she told the court.

In addition to the testimony of two complainants, the jury of eight men and four woman will hear from a psychologist and a detective as well as a number of recorded interviews.

The trial before Judge Bridget Mackintosh is continuing and is expected to last the week.