By STAFF REPORTERS
The woman at the centre of allegations against Dover Samuels has sworn that she was over the age of consent when they engaged in a consensual sexual relationship, it was claimed last night.
And a school yearbook showing that she did not leave school until she was nearly 16 - the age of consent - has apparently backed up the embattled Minister of Maori Affairs' assertions that she was not under age when they were lovers in the 1980s.
The documents, together with medical evidence of when the woman had an abortion after becoming pregnant to Mr Samuels, will be used by police to decide if there is a case against him of having sex with a minor.
But even if it is proved that she was aged 16, police may still have to satisfy themselves that there was no breach of Crimes Act provisions which state that a man must not engage in sex with a girl under 20 who is "under his care or protection."
Mr Samuels denies any criminal wrongdoing, though he admits to having had a relationship with the woman and that she had an abortion.
Sources close to Mr Samuels said yesterday that medical reports from the Epsom Day Clinic would show the abortion was in 1986 when the woman was 17.
A member of the woman's family, Jules Waikare, said last night that the woman had signed an affidavit stating that she was over 16 at the time, and did not want anything to do with the allegations made by her mother.
Jules Waikare also said she had a yearbook for an Auckland college showing that the woman left school in August 1984, two months before her 16th birthday.
A friend of Mr Samuels, Gugi Waaka, said the woman celebrated her 16th birthday in Auckland and did not travel to the Far North, where she met Mr Samuels, until 1986.
But the mother of the woman, Beverly Rako, aged 52, told the Herald yesterday that she believed her daughter was only 14.
Ms Rako, who admitted to having been imprisoned and spending time in a drug rehabilitation centre for heroin addiction, said her daughter had not told her about the relationship until December last year.
"She only told me at Christmas, and from that time all I wanted was for her to get well," said the mother.
"She did not want me to go to the police and she did not want me to go public. I saw her life was going and I did not want it to end up like mine was.
"I thought the best thing to do was confront Dover and I wanted him to be accountable for what he had done.
"I never wanted to go public. It was a last resort. And I never wanted a single cent of Dover's filthy, stinking money. All I want is for my daughter to get well and for him to be held accountable. The truth will save her."
The Opposition tried to turn the pressure onto Helen Clark in Parliament yesterday, asking why she had not taken the matter to the police in January when she first became aware of the mother's allegations.
National Deputy Leader Wyatt Creech asked two questions of the Prime Minister but she was in Auckland on other business, leaving Finance Minister Michael Cullen to answer on her behalf.
Dr Cullen batted away both questions and none of the other parties in the House picked up Mr Creech's line of questioning, indicating a political unwillingness to leap to any tough political line yet.
Northland locals unite behind Samuels
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