Sex trial case spans three countries

A man accused of indecently assaulting two girls in a case that has involved police in three countries has gone on trial in the Rotorua District Court.

The man, whose name and identifying details are suppressed, is charged with seven counts of indecent assault on a young person and one count each of sexual violation by unlawful sexual connection and assault.

He has pleaded not guilty to all charges.

The offending is alleged to have occurred in the Bay of Plenty between May 2005 and August 2007. The police investigation started in the United Kingdom in 2010 where the two complainants, who were between 11 and 15 at the time of the alleged offending, were then visiting.

The man was later interviewed by Australian police.

In her opening address today Rotorua Crown solicitor Amanda Gordon said charges were laid in 2011 and the man was advised by New Zealand police to return voluntarily to the Bay of Plenty to "sort this matter out". He was arrested in 2013 when he returned.

The man's lawyer, Paul Mabey QC, said the allegations were "maliciously false".

"This did not happen," he said. "He has always maintained this. These are lies that have been devised for a particular purpose."

Judge James Weir is presiding. The trial is set down for five days.