Invercargill Court told girl sexually abused ‘almost every night’ for years

A man is on trial in Invercargill for allegedly sexually abusing a young girl “almost every night” for years.

The man, in his 30s, faces five charges of doing an indecent act, two charges of sexual violation by unlawful sexual connection and two charges of rape.

The crimes are alleged to have happened between 2011 and 2016 when the girl was under 12 years old and occurred in three different locations.

The defendant has interim name suppression while the trial is ongoing.

Crown Prosecutor Riki Donnelly said the offending happened many times, for many years, and involved an array of different sexual acts.

In her police interview, the complainant said the defendant would sexually assault her “almost every night” until she was 10 or 11.

She said the man would kiss her and it felt “weird - like it wasn’t meant to happen”.

Judge Maria Pecotic is presiding over the trial at the Invercargill District Court, which is expected to take five days.