Sex trial 'likely to be disturbing'

A man is in court over more than 30 charges of indecency and sexual assault of young girls.

A man is facing more than 30 sex charges of alleged offending against girls in Napier and Wanganui.

Daniel Bell, 39, pleaded not guilty to eight charges of indecent assault of a girl under 12, 12 charges of rape, three of unlawful sexual connection and nine of indecently assaulting a child.

He admitted one charge of indecency with a girl aged between 12 and 16. A jury of five men and seven women was selected for the trial which began at the High Court at Whanganui before Justice David Collins yesterday.

Bell's alleged offending occurred between 1995 and 2010 in various locations throughout Wanganui and later Napier. About 30 witnesses will be called. Defence lawyer Fergus Steedman also told the court Bell would take the witness stand himself.

In his opening address crown prosecutor Harry Mallalieu said Bell had been sexually offending against young girls for a long time and had an "ability to befriend parents and form bonds of trust". There were eight female victims under 16 and one as young as 4 at the time of offending.

"He frequently manipulated situations for the girls to be left alone with him," Mr Mallalieu said. On occasion Bell told victims they would be in trouble if they said anything while he also gave girls sweets to keep them quiet, Mr Mallalieu said.

"This is going to be difficult for a number of the witnesses and of course the people involved. Many of these children come from backgrounds which may be unfamiliar to you. This trial is likely to be disturbing." Mr Mallalieu told the jury it was important to assess each charge individually as "multiple trials within trials".

Mr Steedman said that on the surface the crown case would appear compelling. "Sitting here listening to all of it encapsulated I have to acknowledge that it sounds awful," he said.

"I guess the obvious question is, why are we here? The answer is simple because some of it ... might possibly not be true. In a nutshell his defence is this: 'I'm not a good man. I'm a bad man but I know what I've done and I didn't do these things.'"

Witnesses began to be called yesterday afternoon and the trial continues today. It is expected to take at least a month.