Waikato couple facing rape charges

A Waikato couple went on trial today charged with raping young women in Hamilton.

Jason Lloyd Jones, 38, and his partner Maureen Samantha Iti, 32, are accused of luring young women into their vehicles and plying with them with alcohol and cannabis before raping them, the Waikato Times reported.

Both have denied the charges they face in the High Court at Hamilton.

The incidents happened over a six-month period from July 2009 to January 2010.

Jones and Iti are jointly charged with three counts of sexual violation by rape and one of sexual violation by unlawful sexual connection, plus an alternative charge of indecent assault.

Jones also faces a charge of doing an indecent act in a public place.

- NZPA