Retrial for Hawke's Bay man accused of historic sexual offending

A Hawke's Bay man is standing trial in the Napier District Court this week after pleading not guilty to historic sexual abuse dating back more than four decades. Photo / File

Allegations of historic sexual abuse have come to light for a second time in the retrial of a Hawke's Bay man charged with raping his daughter.

The man, who has interim name suppression, is standing trial in the Napier District Court this week after denying several charges that allege sexual abuse against his daughter and niece dating back to more than four decades ago.

Yesterday the court heard the alleged offending began in Auckland in the early 1970s, continuing in Hawke's Bay until the early 1980s, and came to light when the defendant's daughter complained to police in 2013.

The complainants, who share the same birth mother, both recalled being sexually touched by the man when they were younger than 12, crown prosecutor Jo Rielly said in her opening address.

The pair stayed at the defendant's home for varying periods, during which he would make them lie on beds with their legs open while he touched their private parts, the prosecutor said.

"She said he would tell her to be quiet and not to tell anybody, especially not mum," Ms Rielly said.

The defendant pleaded not guilty to five charges of indecency with a girl under 12 years old, four of indecency with a girl aged between 12 and 16 and one each of rape and attempted rape. Most of the charges are representative.

In a DVD interview recorded in March 2016 his niece described being touched on a regular basis when adults in the household went out to play housie at the weekends.

"I didn't know what to do, I didn't know whether to get up. I was starting to feel, I was thinking should I get up, but then I got scared if [someone] would walk up the hall and see. What if they say it's my fault?"

She said she always pretended to be asleep and grew hopeful that by going to bed earlier when others were still awake in the house that he would stay away from her.

"But no. Every time he would come in ... he would just do the same thing. He would come in, pull the covers back and touch me. Then I started feeling yucky and I just didn't know what to do so it just happened."

His touching progressed to contact with his own genitals,and then attempted rape, but stopped after she began living with another family member and the visits stopped, she said.

Yesterday morning Judge Bridget Mackintosh told a jury of eight men and four women not to speculate about the court proceeding being a retrial and to keep an open mind about the case.

In a brief opening address the man's defence lawyer, Bill Calver, also told the jury to keep an open mind and said the defence's case would be that his client was not a child molester and did not interfere with the complainants.

The trial continues today.