Stainton has been on trial in the Whangārei District Court before Judge John McDonald following the complainant’s allegations he raped her twice years ago.
In her evidence, she said the two, who were in their late teens at the time, had known each other through a group of friends.
She alleged that one night she invited Stainton to watch a movie but as it finished and she put away her laptop, he got on top of her and began having sex with her.
The complainant said she told him to stop, which he did.
She testified that they then had a conversation about what had happened and she explained to him that she was not ready to have sex and the pair agreed to be friends.
But Stainton, who gave evidence in his defence, claimed no such conversation happened.
Following that night, the girl alleged she overheard Stainton and his friends discussing him having sex with her, and his friends praising him, which she said “triggered” her.
The girl then invited Stainton over a second time to watch a movie and on this occasion, she alleged he held her down and raped her.
Stainton maintained the sex was consensual and it was the complainant who set the pace of the night.
However, she sent a message via Facebook to him in the following days saying: “I thought we had discussed that I wasn’t ready and I got a fright when things moved so soon.”
Stainton, who had already blocked her on other social media accounts, did not respond and when the Crown asked why he would not question what she was talking about, he said he was confused.
The jury found Stainton not guilty of the charges. Photo / NZME
“I’m confused ‘cause we’d never had the conversation about her not being ready for any sexual activity,” Stainton said in evidence.
“What did you want that night?” Crown lawyer Geraldine Kelly asked him.
“To watch a movie, to hang out with a friend who I thought was rather attractive,” he responded.
Stainton said the girl began breathing heavily after the sexual encounter and he rubbed her back before she lay on his chest.
She, however, gave evidence that Stainton rolled over and went to sleep while she lay crying.
Stainton said there were “zero tears”.
Defence lawyer Matthew Ridgley claimed the complainant’s narrative did not add up and that her evidence was inconsistent.
He said her recollection of the dates was wrong by about six months, she claimed to have cut contact with Stainton yet sent him a Facebook message and she did not want to give her phone to police to be searched.
“She’s accused someone of raping her twice, but won’t give her phone to police?
“Because logically both [name redacted] and William Stainton have different versions and both cannot be true.”
Following the closings by the Crown and defence, the jury began its deliberation. Shortly after, the group returned with unanimous not guilty verdicts on both charges.
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.
