Faith healer faces 26 charges of indecently assaulting women

Nga Teina following a court hearing in 2019. Photo / Belinda Feek

A self-professed faith healer, Nga Teina, will face 26 charges of indecently assaulting women when he is tried before a jury in the Napier District Court in May.

Teina, 64, did not appear when his case was discussed at a Crown callover hearing in Napier on Thursday.

He first appeared on a single indecency charge in the Tokoroa District Court in 2019 but now faces 26 charges of indecent assault on females over the age of 16, court documents show.

Teina's case was set down for a jury trial on May 23, following a pre-trial hearing on March 11.

Defence counsel Philip Jensen said it would be a huge logistical matter to bring 12 witnesses down from Auckland to Napier for the trial, along with the defendant "and his entourage", some of whom were anti-vaccination.

He said this raised the question: "What is it doing in our court [in Napier]?"

Judge Russell Collins said the case originated in Rotorua and was transferred to Manukau before being sent to Napier by consent.

He said that some of the allegations concerned people in Hawke's Bay.

Jensen said the defence also had reservations about some of the charges, which were representative, and would be filing applications under Section 147 of the Criminal Procedure Act.

That section allows charges to be dismissed under certain circumstances.

Crown counsel Michael Blaschke indicated the Crown would file its own applications to have "counter-intuitive evidence" admitted.

The Law Commission says counter-intuitive evidence is sometimes offered to show juries that they may be wrong in believing people's behaviour is inconsistent with sexual abuse.