NZ Herald
  • Home
  • Latest news
  • Herald NOW
  • Video
  • New Zealand
  • Sport
  • World
  • Business
  • Entertainment
  • Podcasts
  • Quizzes
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Travel
  • Viva
  • Weather

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • New Zealand
    • All New Zealand
    • Crime
    • Politics
    • Education
    • Open Justice
    • Scam Update
  • Herald NOW
  • On The Up
  • World
    • All World
    • Australia
    • Asia
    • UK
    • United States
    • Middle East
    • Europe
    • Pacific
  • Business
    • All Business
    • MarketsSharesCurrencyCommoditiesStock TakesCrypto
    • Markets with Madison
    • Media Insider
    • Business analysis
    • Personal financeKiwiSaverInterest ratesTaxInvestment
    • EconomyInflationGDPOfficial cash rateEmployment
    • Small business
    • Business reportsMood of the BoardroomProject AucklandSustainable business and financeCapital markets reportAgribusiness reportInfrastructure reportDynamic business
    • Deloitte Top 200 Awards
    • CompaniesAged CareAgribusinessAirlinesBanking and financeConstructionEnergyFreight and logisticsHealthcareManufacturingMedia and MarketingRetailTelecommunicationsTourism
  • Opinion
    • All Opinion
    • Analysis
    • Editorials
    • Business analysis
    • Premium opinion
    • Letters to the editor
  • Politics
  • Sport
    • All Sport
    • OlympicsParalympics
    • RugbySuper RugbyNPCAll BlacksBlack FernsRugby sevensSchool rugby
    • CricketBlack CapsWhite Ferns
    • Racing
    • NetballSilver Ferns
    • LeagueWarriorsNRL
    • FootballWellington PhoenixAuckland FCAll WhitesFootball FernsEnglish Premier League
    • GolfNZ Open
    • MotorsportFormula 1
    • Boxing
    • UFC
    • BasketballNBABreakersTall BlacksTall Ferns
    • Tennis
    • Cycling
    • Athletics
    • SailingAmerica's CupSailGP
    • Rowing
  • Lifestyle
    • All Lifestyle
    • Viva - Food, fashion & beauty
    • Society Insider
    • Royals
    • Sex & relationships
    • Food & drinkRecipesRecipe collectionsRestaurant reviewsRestaurant bookings
    • Health & wellbeing
    • Fashion & beauty
    • Pets & animals
    • The Selection - Shop the trendsShop fashionShop beautyShop entertainmentShop giftsShop home & living
    • Milford's Investing Place
  • Entertainment
    • All Entertainment
    • TV
    • MoviesMovie reviews
    • MusicMusic reviews
    • BooksBook reviews
    • Culture
    • ReviewsBook reviewsMovie reviewsMusic reviewsRestaurant reviews
  • Travel
    • All Travel
    • News
    • New ZealandNorthlandAucklandWellingtonCanterburyOtago / QueenstownNelson-TasmanBest NZ beaches
    • International travelAustraliaPacific IslandsEuropeUKUSAAfricaAsia
    • Rail holidays
    • Cruise holidays
    • Ski holidays
    • Luxury travel
    • Adventure travel
  • Kāhu Māori news
  • Environment
    • All Environment
    • Our Green Future
  • Talanoa Pacific news
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Property Insider
    • Interest rates tracker
    • Residential property listings
    • Commercial property listings
  • Health
  • Technology
    • All Technology
    • AI
    • Social media
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology
    • Opinion
    • Audio & podcasts
  • Weather forecasts
    • All Weather forecasts
    • Kaitaia
    • Whangārei
    • Dargaville
    • Auckland
    • Thames
    • Tauranga
    • Hamilton
    • Whakatāne
    • Rotorua
    • Tokoroa
    • Te Kuiti
    • Taumaranui
    • Taupō
    • Gisborne
    • New Plymouth
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Dannevirke
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Levin
    • Paraparaumu
    • Masterton
    • Wellington
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Blenheim
    • Westport
    • Reefton
    • Kaikōura
    • Greymouth
    • Hokitika
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
    • Wānaka
    • Oamaru
    • Queenstown
    • Dunedin
    • Gore
    • Invercargill
  • Meet the journalists
  • Promotions & competitions
  • OneRoof property listings
  • Driven car news

Puzzles & Quizzes

  • Puzzles
    • All Puzzles
    • Sudoku
    • Code Cracker
    • Crosswords
    • Cryptic crossword
    • Wordsearch
  • Quizzes
    • All Quizzes
    • Morning quiz
    • Afternoon quiz
    • Sports quiz

Regions

  • Northland
    • All Northland
    • Far North
    • Kaitaia
    • Kerikeri
    • Kaikohe
    • Bay of Islands
    • Whangarei
    • Dargaville
    • Kaipara
    • Mangawhai
  • Auckland
  • Waikato
    • All Waikato
    • Hamilton
    • Coromandel & Hauraki
    • Matamata & Piako
    • Cambridge
    • Te Awamutu
    • Tokoroa & South Waikato
    • Taupō & Tūrangi
  • Bay of Plenty
    • All Bay of Plenty
    • Katikati
    • Tauranga
    • Mount Maunganui
    • Pāpāmoa
    • Te Puke
    • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua
  • Hawke's Bay
    • All Hawke's Bay
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Havelock North
    • Central Hawke's Bay
    • Wairoa
  • Taranaki
    • All Taranaki
    • Stratford
    • New Plymouth
    • Hāwera
  • Manawatū - Whanganui
    • All Manawatū - Whanganui
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Manawatū
    • Tararua
    • Horowhenua
  • Wellington
    • All Wellington
    • Kapiti
    • Wairarapa
    • Upper Hutt
    • Lower Hutt
  • Nelson & Tasman
    • All Nelson & Tasman
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Tasman
  • Marlborough
  • West Coast
  • Canterbury
    • All Canterbury
    • Kaikōura
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
  • Otago
    • All Otago
    • Oamaru
    • Dunedin
    • Balclutha
    • Alexandra
    • Queenstown
    • Wanaka
  • Southland
    • All Southland
    • Invercargill
    • Gore
    • Stewart Island
  • Gisborne

Media

  • Video
    • All Video
    • NZ news video
    • Herald NOW
    • Business news video
    • Politics news video
    • Sport video
    • World news video
    • Lifestyle video
    • Entertainment video
    • Travel video
    • Markets with Madison
    • Kea Kids news
  • Podcasts
    • All Podcasts
    • The Front Page
    • On the Tiles
    • Ask me Anything
    • The Little Things
  • Cartoons
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / New Zealand

Entertainment industry veteran on trial, accused of sex assaults on three women

Anna Leask
By Anna Leask
Senior Journalist - crime and justice·NZ Herald·
13 Jan, 2020 02:24 AM6 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

The man faces serious charges. Photo / 123RF

The man faces serious charges. Photo / 123RF

A well-known figure in the New Zealand entertainment industry is on trial this week defending charges of sexually assaulting three of his female employees at end-of-project parties.

It has been revealed that he said to one woman "if you look after me I will look after you" as he rubbed her leg.

And while alone in a hotel lift with another said "I want to see your room" and then when she tried to change the subject, he asked "are you scared".

The man has pleaded not guilty to six charges - one of sexual violation by unlawful sexual connection and five of indecent assault.

His trial began in the Auckland District Court this morning before Judge Russell Collins and a jury of eight women and four men.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

He currently has name suppression - which prohibits the Herald from publishing the specifics of his work in the entertainment industry.

However it can be reported that he has been involved with a number of high-profile film and television projects in New Zealand and around the world, including working with Disney and Netflix - and some significant retail brands.

Crown prosecutor Hannah Clark outlined the allegations against the man in her opening address.

The alleged offending happened between 2007 and 2014 at various locations within New Zealand.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Clark outlined the man's role in the industry for the jury and listed a number of high-profile projects he has been part of.

She said his sector of the industry was very specific and if anyone wanted to get involved in that the accused was"essentially who you have to work for".

"All are younger than him, all three of them were sexually assaulted by him while working for him," Clark explained.

"All three times it was when everyone had been drinking … at a celebratory function towards the end of filming."

Discover more

New Zealand|crime

Child sex offending Uber driver worked as 'fit and proper' real estate agent

28 Feb 04:00 PM
New Zealand|crime

Paedophile who threatened to spread HIV once out of prison to be released

23 Jul 01:46 AM
New Zealand|crime

Corrections wants strict tabs kept on recidivist child sex offender

06 Aug 11:37 PM
New Zealand|crime

Outrage as Marlborough Boy's College sex accused frequents teen sports games

12 Aug 03:32 AM

Clark said the first woman was asleep on a couch after attending a party with the accused and other colleagues.

She told police she awoke to find her jeans undone and the man touching her genitals.

The jury heard that the woman made eye contact with the accused, who then got on his hands and knees and crawled back to the bedroom he was staying in.

The woman was shocked and told other people what had happened but did not go to police immediately.

One person she told was her then-partner who confronted the man.

His response was that he had been drunk and could not remember what had happened.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

The woman only decided to make a statement after she heard two other women had come forward.

Clark said the decision not to report the alleged incident at the time had weighed heavily on her.

"She wanted to move past this … she wanted to put all this behind her," she said.

"But at the end of 2017 she learns that these two other women have come forward.

"She didn't know what to do, she thought about it for months … but finally she decided to go to the police."

The second woman was "rubbed up and down" on her thigh by the accused at another party.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Clark told the jury that as he touched her, he said to her: "You look after me and I'll look after you."

Her husband was at the same party and saw the interaction.

When he came over to intervene the woman begged him "please don't say anything I don't want to lose my job".

The couple left, and actually drove the accused home.

The woman was desperate to keep her job and kept working for the accused after the alleged assault.

"She felt like a minder trying to make sure other people weren't in the same situation she was in," said Clark.

"Then he did it to someone else, and he did it in front of her."

That woman is the third complainant.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

After finishing work for the day she headed back to her hotel.

The rest of her team were meeting in a room at the hotel for drinks but she did not want to go.

When she got to the hotel she got into the lift and the accused also stepped in.

"I want to see you room," he allegedly told her.

"She tried to deflect, saying she wanted to go and see everyone else," said Clark.

"He asked her 'are you scared?'"

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

When they got to the room with their colleagues the man allegedly groped her several times.

After he groped her the first time she moved away but he followed her and repeated the assault.

"She left the room," Clark said.

"But the defendant didn't leave at that, he wanted to get to her."

Clark said he asked people which room the woman was staying in but no one would tell
him.

He then called and texted her repeatedly.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

"He found her hotel room that night and turned up banging on her door," Clark said.

"She eventually decided to open the door to him, he said he just wanted to talk."

The accused allegedly claimed he was having problems with his wife.

"(The third complainant) told him in explicit terms to go away."

He reportedly apologised to her some days later.

Several years later she found herself working on a new project that the accused was
involved in.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

She was set to go overseas for that work but Clark said once the man found out she was in a relationship with another employee, he told her "you are no longer required".

Clark said the would hear from all three women, and a number of other people who either
saw the alleged incidents or heard about them soon after.

"You can believe what these three women say is the truth," she said.

The man's lawyer, Marie Dyhrberg, QC, said it was accepted he employed the women and had been at parties with them.

"You are simply being asked did these events happen? If they did was it the defendant who committed them?" she said.

"One party is truthful is not mistaken is reliable and the defence said the other parties - the complainants - are unreliable or mistaken or certainly being untruthful."

She told the jury that they would hear the man's police interview and that his version of events was in total conflict with the complainants.

"He absolutely denies all of these charges - absolutely denies," Dyhrberg said.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

"The one party who is being honest in all of this and being truthful is (the man)."

SEXUAL HARM - DO YOU NEED HELP?

• If it's an emergency and you feel that you or someone else is at risk, call 111.​

• If you've ever experienced sexual assault or abuse and need to talk to someone contact the Safe to Talk confidential crisis helpline on:

• Text 4334 and they will respond

• Email support@safetotalk.nz

• Visit https://safetotalk.nz/contact-us/ for an online chat

Alternatively contact your local police station - click here for a list.

If you have been abused, remember it's not your fault.

Save

    Share this article

Latest from New Zealand

New Zealand

Armed police cordon off Hamilton street after serious firearms incident

09 Jul 11:42 AM
Politics

Jacinda Ardern says she'll provide evidence to Covid Royal Commission

09 Jul 08:35 AM
New Zealand

Lotto numbers revealed in giant $10m Powerball draw

09 Jul 08:32 AM

From early mornings to easy living

sponsored
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from New Zealand

Armed police cordon off Hamilton street after serious firearms incident

Armed police cordon off Hamilton street after serious firearms incident

09 Jul 11:42 AM

Police warn it's a 'dangerous' situation.

Jacinda Ardern says she'll provide evidence to Covid Royal Commission

Jacinda Ardern says she'll provide evidence to Covid Royal Commission

09 Jul 08:35 AM
Lotto numbers revealed in giant $10m Powerball draw

Lotto numbers revealed in giant $10m Powerball draw

09 Jul 08:32 AM
Hospital staff safety concerns rise after gunpoint incident

Hospital staff safety concerns rise after gunpoint incident

09 Jul 07:20 AM
Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky
sponsored

Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky

NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • NZ Herald e-editions
  • Daily puzzles & quizzes
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Subscribe to the NZ Herald newspaper
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • NZME Events
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP