Gary Wilson has been convicted of sexually abusing a third victim. Photo / Facebook
WARNING: This story details sexual abuse against children.
Despite his denials and claimed memory loss, an already convicted sex offender has been found guilty of 33 charges of historical sexual abuse against a third victim.
Gary Claude Wilson, 74, has been on trial in the Whangārei District Court before Judge John McDonald on charges related to sexually abusing a boy over several years.
The jury heard Wilson knew the boy through friends and would often take him on drives around Whangārei, where he took the opportunity to sexually abuse him.
He also took him to his home in Hikurangi and would offer him money, cigarettes and alcohol in return for sexual acts.
But it took 20 years for the victim to come forward, during which time Wilson was convicted of sexually abusing two other boys.
In 2011, he was convicted of assaulting an 8-year-old boy known to him.
At that time, Wilson had convinced the parent to let him take her son to a park, saying his grandchildren would be there and they could play together.
On the way, he indecently assaulted the boy.
At the park, there were no other children and, after only a few minutes of playing, he told the boy they had to leave. The child immediately disclosed the assault to his mother.
Then, in 2017, he was convicted of offending against another boy who was also known to him.
On that occasion, he took the boy on a trip and suggested that, if he ever needed money, he should ask.
That sparked at least four incidents during which he instructed the boy to perform sexual acts for money.
In 2022, Wilson was taken into the Manukau police station twice in relation to the recent allegations by the third victim.
On the first visit, he was sent home as he had Covid. On the second, he signed a statement agreeing that he had taken the victim for drives in his car.
The officer who took the statement gave evidence at Wilson’s trial that he was coherent and understood what he was signing.
However, Wilson gave evidence that he could not remember signing the statement and that he did not take the complainant in his car.
When pressed under cross-examination by Crown lawyer Richard Annandale, Wilson said he never should have told the police officer that.
He said that he had Covid at the time, so he did not know what he was doing.
“Are you trying to use Covid to explain away what you admitted to the police?” Annandale asked.
Wilson did not respond.
Annandale listed Wilson’s prior convictions, to which Wilson responded, “I didn’t do any of that.”
“What do you mean? You’ve been before the courts twice on two separate boys. Are you saying you don’t remember being convicted and sentenced for those matters?” Annandale asked.
“I can’t remember, no,” Wilson said.
Annandale put it to Wilson that he was using memory loss as an excuse, and that he actually did remember.
“Nah, I don’t know,” he responded.
In the Crown’s closing address, Annandale said the victim was reliable and credible.
He also pointed out the similarities between Wilson’s latest and previous offending.
“Mr Wilson had opportunity, he had inclination, he offended against [suppressed].”
Chris Muston, Wilson’s lawyer, said his client outrightly denied all allegations.
Muston also said that, given Wilson’s age, he was likely to agree with propositions put to him.
“I’m going to suggest to you that Mr Wilson is a person who would make mistakes when he was talking to people in authority,” Muston said.
“It is one person’s word against another; this offending never happened.”
Ultimately, the jury believed the victim’s evidence, and Wilson was convicted of all 33 charges.
He will be sentenced in January.
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.