Influencer trial: Rape accuser says he was 'manipulated, brainwashed' by powerful older man

The High Court at Auckland.

A teen who was still in school when he says he was blackmailed and raped by a New Zealand social media influencer acknowledged under cross-examination that his texts with the man were flirtatious — and some could be interpreted as sexting — prior to the alleged crimes.

But he added: "A child's mind is quite easily manipulated."

The witness, now an adult, has testified for four days at the High Court at Auckland — the vast majority of the time under cross-examination by the defence, who have combed over hundreds of social media posts and text messages between the two.

The defendant, who has interim name suppression, has pleaded not guilty to six counts of sexual violation by unlawful sexual connection, three counts of blackmail and two counts of aggravated wounding by stupefaction. The accusations, dating back to 2016, come from two accusers who were teenagers at the time.

But during the first week of the jury trial, the first accuser — known in court documents as Mr A — was the only person to take the witness stand. His testimony wrapped up just after 5pm on Friday.

He said the defendant threatened to destroy him, including sharing naked photos of him, on multiple occasions to coerce him into submitting to a sex act. He also said he twice woke up after nights of drinking or drug use — including one instance in which he said his drink was spiked — to find the defendant raping him. He feared the man, he said.

But defence lawyer Emma Priest has pointed to messages in which the two exchanged racy messages.

"By the way, you owe me a photo," the defendant wrote in one exchange that included an eggplant emoji.

After the teen responded with kiss and worried face emojis, the defendant instructed him to "take off your pants and come here".

"I'll be right over," the teen responded, adding an emoji depicting a running person.

In another exchange, the defendant again asked the teen for a nude photo. "Just take it and be done with it and I won't ask you again," he said. That time, the teen complied.

There were also exchanges later on in which the accuser told the defendant he wasn't gay and only wanted to be friends.

Mr A told jurors he struck up a friendship with the defendant on social media in hopes of raising his own profile. As their friendship developed and he was introduced more into the defendant's world, he thought he needed to act a certain way to succeed, he said.

"It was me being confused and, quite frankly, brainwashed by [the defendant]," he explained. "Everyone ... was either gay, transgender or bi. You're surrounded by a bunch of people who are very successful in what they do, and this is how they act."

But despite his sometimes "curious" behaviour, he never wanted to engage in sex acts with the man, who was more than 10 years his senior, he said.

"When it came down to it, I know who I am and I'm not gay," he said. "I know my truth."

He said there was "nothing normal" about their "incredibly toxic" friendship, but he didn't fully realise it until later. He characterised photos and videos that the defence showed to jurors, some of which he said he'd never seen before the trial, as "creepy".

One of the videos was a short clip of the defendant kissing him in 2018. The accuser said he was high on ecstasy and had kissed "quite a few people that night, actually".

Priest, however, suggested it was another piece of evidence that the two were in a consensual intimate relationship on and off through the years and that the criminal accusations were made up after an argument in which the defendant punched him. The accuser has resisted any suggestion he was in a consensual gay relationship because he comes from a conservative family, she also suggested.

"If anything, I would suggest you were the one in control in the relationship," she told the accuser.

"You were manipulating him to get him to help you.

"I suggest you have gone back and re-written your relationship with [him] to fit your agenda."

He ardently disagreed.

The next accuser, known as Mr B, is expected to testify next week.