KEY POINTS:
A former St John ambulance officer is facing a string of sex charges, including an allegation that he indecently assaulted a schoolgirl in the back of his ambulance.
The girl, who was dressed in her school uniform when the incident allegedly happened, claims the man pulled down her
skirt and underwear and touched her as she lay in the ambulance.
She was being taken to hospital with minor knee and elbow injuries after a car crash.
Court orders prevent the Herald naming the man, who has denied 10 charges of indecent assault and one of sexual violation.
The incidents allegedly occurred on five occasions in Auckland in 1999 and 2000.
The man, now 35, was sacked after the allegations came to light in March 2000. His present occupation is suppressed.
The complainant - who was 16 at the time - yesterday told the Auckland District Court that what happened in the ambulance wasn't right.
"I knew what he was doing was wrong. He pulled down my skirt and touched me. "
When she asked what he was doing, the officer allegedly said he was checking for internal bleeding.
The woman said he also lifted up her bra and touched her breasts.
When she got into the ambulance, she was worried about what her parents would say about the car crash, but that worry was eclipsed by the officer's actions, she said.
But the man's lawyer, Judith Ablett Kerr, QC, said the woman had been more worried about how her parents would react to her car being damaged, and questioned why she didn't immediately report the alleged abuse.
The woman replied: "During the ambulance ride, what happened to me concerned me. When I got to the hospital, my parents were worried about the accident and that got my attention."
Asked why she didn't mention the incident at the time, the woman said she was worried no one would believe her, and she had found it difficult to talk about.
She eventually spoke out because she felt a responsibility to the other alleged victims.
Another woman told the court the man ran his hands over her front, feeling her breasts, while helping her put her robe on.
They were in the back of the ambulance, and she thought the incident happened while the other St John officer was walking around to open the doors.
Three other women also claim the officer assaulted them.
A police summary of their complaints said one woman became shocked and fearful when he took her shirt off, pulled aside her bra and sucked her nipples.
Another woman, who had collapsed in the street, told police the man exposed her breast and touched her while doing a physical assessment.
