Extradited man, 83, denies historic sex charges

A 83-year-old man extradited from Australia pleaded not guilty to two 50-year-old sex charges when he appeared Wellington District Court today.

Charles Kenneth Morgan was extradited from Australia last August to face charges related to sexual abuse alleged to have occurred between 1954 and 1979.

Today in court he pleaded not guilty to two charges of indecent assault against another man alleged to have happened in 1956.

His lawyer Val Nesbit said he accepted that there was a case to answer.

Morgan was remanded in custody to reappear in the High Court at Wellington on October 8.

New Zealand detectives flew to Sydney in August to accompany Morgan back to Wellington, after Australian authorities arrested him in New South Wales on an extradition warrant.

Morgan moved to Australia in the late 1970s but was arrested when he came back to New Zealand for a holiday in 2004.

He was allowed to return to Australia after paying a $20,000 surety bond, on the understanding he would return to New Zealand to face any charges.

He failed to return to New Zealand for a trial in December 2005 telling the court he was too sick to travel.

- NZPA