John Hope Muchirahondo is facing more than 30 charges, including rape and sexual violation in the High Court in Christchurch. Photo / Pool
By RNZ
A jury has been shown explicit images and videos found on the phone of a man facing multiple sexual assault charges.
John Hope Muchirahondo faces more than 30 charges, including rape and sexual violation, in the High Court at Christchurch.
Detective Brett Goucher told the court thousands of images and a number of videos were found on Muchirahondo’s phone, and about 30 were deemed relevant to the inquiry.
Police had focused on the images that could be of sexual assault, he said.
Many of the images were of sexual acts, or naked women, with close-ups of genitalia and some of women being touched intimately.
The images were presented in a closed courtroom.
Goucher said they used non-explicit images to confirm locations and the people in the images.
This jury also heard from Peivand Yazdanpanah, owner of central Christchurch’s Chic bar. He said Muchirahondo had been a regular visitor to his bar over four or five years.
On one occasion he had said to Muchirahondo he was very popular on the dance floor, and Muchirahondo had responded that he could have any woman.
Yazdanpanah asked Muchirahondo what he meant by that, and Muchirahondo pulled out his phone.
“It took a few seconds to scroll down to find the app,” said Yazdanpanah.
“Which to me was a bit odd, because you couldn’t see any gallery [that] usually you see on the phone. And he said ‘No, this is my secret area’. Then he put a pin code in, and opened the app and scrolled, and showed me the videos of having intercourse with other women.”
Yazdanpanah said he was shown two clips of about 10 seconds but could see files for about 20 to 25 videos.
He asked Muchirahondo if it was him in the videos and he said it was.
Muchirahondo’s lawyer Anselm Williams questioned how police could determine the nature of the relationship with some of the women in the images, when they had not been identified.
Under questioning from Williams, Goucher confirmed those women had not been spoken to by the police, and therefore the nature of the relationship had not been confirmed.
Williams also questioned Goucher over his description of a naked woman as sleeping.
He asked if Goucher was an expert in determining if people were asleep or if he had made an assumption.
Goucher said he had reviewed the material and formed the opinion the person was asleep in the video.
The trial continues.
- RNZ
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