The Crown claims the man abused the child on multiple occasions and assaulted her to stop her from reporting. Photo / 123RF
The Crown claims the man abused the child on multiple occasions and assaulted her to stop her from reporting. Photo / 123RF
WARNING: This article discusses child sexual abuse and may be upsetting to some readers.
A man accused of raping his step-daughter claims the allegations are untrue and stem from a failed relationship and bitter custody battle with her mother.
A jury trial began this week in the WhangāreiDistrict Court against the man for 13 charges related to unlawful sexual connection of a child under 12, indecently assaults a female, assaults child, sexual violation and rape of a female under 12.
The court heard the Northland man began a relationship with a woman who, at the time, had a 6-year-old daughter.
The Crown alleges over a year and a half the defendant sexually violated the child, raped her multiple times and assaulted her by pushing, slapping and punching her in the jaw.
On one occasion he allegedly pushed the child’s head under water and, although the mother knew her daughter did not like her partner, she did not realise why.
“She did not consent to this, she did not want this to happen. There is no way he could have believed, on reasonable grounds, this child was consenting when she was a 6 or 7-year-old girl,” Crown lawyer Deborah Davies told the jury.
The man went on to have a child with the girl’s mother but, when the relationship broke down, the defence claims a custody battle began which the girl has been dragged into.
“The family has largely had custody and to keep him out of the picture, they have made false allegations against him,” defence lawyer Maddie Dempsey submitted.
“None of this ever happened, there was never any sexual conduct, she is lying. Whether she has made it up or been put up to it is up to you.”
An evidential video of the child giving her statement was played to the jury where she recollected being trapped in the abuse and allegedly assaulted by the man at least seven times a month.
The girl said she was abused at least seven times a month. Photo / Stock Image 123rf
“Whenever I went to talk to my mum, he would push me because I think he thought I was going to tell her,” she said.
“If I didn’t do the things that he asked me to do, he would growl at me, hit me and swear at me.”
She told the interviewer her mother would ask her partner to shower her and the defendant would use the opportunity to rape and sexually violate her.
“He told me it was a good thing to do, so I followed it. He wouldn’t stop and I didn’t know how to tell my mum.
“I was stuck for a year and a half I didn’t know what to do,” she said.
The trial is being heard before Judge Keith de Ridder and is expected to last a week.
Shannon Pitman is a Whangārei based reporter for Open Justice covering courts in the Te Tai Tokerau region. She is of Ngāpuhi/ Ngāti Pūkenga descent and has worked in digital media for the past five years. She joined NZME in 2023.
