A leading figure in the New Zealand entertainment industry is on trial in the High Court at Rotorua. Photo / Andrew Warner
Content warning: Sexual assault
Kiwi musician Tiki Taane has told a jury his friendship with a leading entertainment figure on trial for rape went “sour” after Taane confronted the man about his behaviour and the defendant admitted being a “sex addict”.
Taane made the comments as a Crown witness at the Rotorua High Court trial of a man facing 25 charges involving allegations of rape, sexual assault and drug-related offending. The charges relate to nine women.
The Crown alleges the married defendant used illicit drugs on some of the women before offending against them sexually, and used his position in the entertainment industry to get what he wanted from women.
The defence has described the case as a “Me Too fest” and says that while the defendant admits taking drugs and having sex with other women, this was the nature of the industry, and he was popular and did not need to ply women with drugs and alcohol for sex.
The defendant has interim name suppression, and some details and names of others involved also cannot be reported.
Taane gave evidence in court on Tuesday and Wednesday.
During questioning by Crown solicitor Anna Pollett, Taane said he and the man used to be friends.
“It was good to meet [the defendant], and he told me he was a huge fan of my music.”
“We were close but started to drift apart and didn’t hang out together for several years then reconnected and started spending a lot more time [together].”
But he said seeing a photo and video of the man “creeping around someone’s house,” made him concerned.
“I remember sitting on it for a little bit and thinking that I needed to talk to him. And sent him a message.
“I think it was something like ’Hey, Bro, I have heard a couple of things, I’ve seen some things, we need to talk, and I’m worried about you and the situation...”
Taane said they met at a food court and he “hit him up about it”, and about what he had heard about the man being in a relationship with another girl.
Taane said the defendant admitted the video was of him, and told him he “regretted” going to the house.
Taane said the defendant also told him he was a “sex addict and couldn’t help his behaviour”.
“I said to him that, like, well, you need to get some counselling for that, for sure.”
He said he advised the man to tell his wife.
“And I also gave him some advice that if this was where he was heading, he needed to become single, get his own place…”
Taane said the defendant seemed to be contemplating that until Taane said the man needed to be prepared that his wife would be allowed to do the same.
“That’s when he wasn’t very happy about that.”
Taane said after that meeting he and the defendant’s friendship turned “quite sour” and that was when he talked to the man’s wife about what had been going on.
Defence lawyer Ron Mansfield, KC, suggested that it was Taane who had labelled the defendant as a sex addict “because the defendant had told him he enjoyed having sexual intercourse with other women outside his marriage”.
Taane rejected that proposition.
He also said the defendant had not mentioned having a relationship with any other girl.
A complainant in the case also gave evidence on Wednesday relating to an allegation the defendant indecently assaulted her in his vehicle after offering her a lift home.
During questioning by Crown solicitor Anna Pollett, the complainant said she and her friends were regular visitors to a bar.
One night, she and the defendant were at the bar and she accepted his offer of a lift home because she “trusted him”.
The defendant stopped at a petrol station and she accepted his offer to buy her cigarettes.
The woman said she asked him to drop her at her friend’s place, where her partner was waiting, but instead, he parked on an unlit street.
She said she immediately told him to take her home, but the defendant took off his seat belt, leaned over and tried to kiss her. She tried to push him away and the kiss landed on her cheek, she said.
“I told him no, this is not happening… then he put his hand on my upper thigh and tried to move it towards my private area.”
The Crown witness said she felt “very vulnerable” because the man was older and bigger than her and she had been a victim of a more serious assault by another person in the past, so immediately feared the worst.
“You think you know someone but when someone tries to take advantage of you in this way… it’s quite shocking.”
The complainant said she made it “absolutely clear” she did not want the defendant’s advances and again ordered him to take her home.
She said he was “angry and agitated” by her rejection, and told her he thought this was what she wanted after accepting his offers.
“I didn’t have feelings towards him or find him attractive. Nothing like that, but he was friendly towards me and his friends and I didn’t think anything untoward would happen.”
During questioning by defence lawyer Ron Mansfield, KC, the woman said she did not make a formal complaint to police at the time but told a couple of friends.
She said had only provided a formal written statement to the police after being approached by them and told it would help build up the prosecution case.
The woman said she did not realise at the time this would be treated as a formal complaint against the defendant.
The trial, before Justice Layne Harvey and a jury of nine women and three men, continues.
Sandra Conchie is a senior journalist at the Bay of Plenty Times and Rotorua Daily Post who has been a journalist for 24 years. She mainly covers police, court and other justice stories, as well as general news. She has been a Canon Media Awards regional/community reporter of the year.