The woman was a teenager at the time and alleges she was abused in state care. Photo/ 123RF
WARNING: This article discusses allegations of sexual abuse and may be upsetting to some readers.
“There was no one to save me.”
Those were the words a woman used to describe the situation she found herself in when she was allegedly sexually abused by a man while in state care.
But that man will not know his fate any time soon, because his jury trial was abruptly aborted on day two at the Whangārei District Court.
The defendant, whose name is suppressed until further direction from the court, is facing 16 historical charges alleging unlawful sexual connection, indecent assaults and rape of a female over the age of 16.
The court was told the girl was under Oranga Tamariki’s care at the time and had been relocated to the man’s custody from a previous placement.
She also claims she suffered sexual abuse in her previous home.
The man, who was a social worker working in mental health, had the girl placed into his care because of their familial relationship.
The sexual offending is alleged to have occurred almost immediately and continued for two years until she moved out.
Crown lawyer David Stevens said in opening statements to the jury on Tuesday that the man abused his position of authority to offend against the girl for a prolonged period.
“He had been trusted to look after [redacted] when she was placed into his care. [redacted] told the defendant to stop. But he ignored her,” Stevens said.
Stevens told the jury the defendant could not have reasonably believed the girl was giving consent, given her age and the circumstances.
Defence lawyer Amelia Roberts told the jury that the woman had her dates and locations wrong, and while she was in his care, she always had her own bedroom.
“The allegations made against him by the complainant are false,” Roberts submitted.
In an evidential interview played to the jury, the woman said the man insisted she sleep in his bed and the assaults occurred almost daily.
“There was no one to save me, if it didn’t happen there, it happened in the car, he would come to my job, take me to motels, that kind of thing.”
The complainant said the man would ply her with alcohol and “have his way with me”.
She said when she was released from the ministry’s care, she thought she was finally free from the man.
“I might be free, but the memory is still there.”
The woman said she told the man’s family what he had been doing to her, but was not believed and told she had “asked for it”.
During cross-examination by defence lawyer Wayne McKean, the girl disclosed an alleged history of enduring beatings from family members, suffering sexual assault in a previous placement, and arriving to live with the defendant while still under the age of 16.
McKean said that when she lived with the defendant, she managed to get a job, stop taking drugs and had a stable family.
“Not stable,” she responded.
McKean put it to the woman that when she was initially interviewed by Oranga Tamariki over the allegations, she told them the defendant was not sleeping with her.
“That’s what I said at the time,” she responded.
“Was that the truth?” McKean asked.
“I was lying.”
McKean asked the woman whether she was resentful of the man when she was eventually kicked out of his home.
“I was angry, trying to explain my case, detrimental, everything,” she said.
The trial was brought to an end by Judge Philip Rzepecky on Wednesday during cross-examination, and a new trial date will be set at a later date.
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.