Man accused of groping kids in mosques

"I felt quite uneasy at the time...uncomfortable." Complainant, 12

A boy says he felt ‘‘uneasy’’ and ‘‘uncomfortable’’ after being touched on his genitals by a man while sleeping in a mosque, but was not sure if the man was awake or not.

He is one of four boys who say they were indecently assaulted by the same man while staying in mosques in Palmerston North and Wellington.

The the trial of the man alleged to have committed the assaults, a Wellingtonian who has name suppression, started in the Palmerston North District Court on Monday morning.

Two of the assaults are alleged to have taken place in January 2013 at the Manawatu Islamic Centre on Cook St, Palmerston North, with the other two happening at the Kilbirnie mosque in July 2014 during Ramadan.

The younger of the two Palmerston North complainants, who was 12 at the time, said he was at the mosque for a camp involving other young people praying and playing games.

He said he talked to the man about mathematics sometime before going to sleep in a prayer room.

The boy awoke during the night to feel the man touching his genital area, leading the boy to cup his own hands over his genitals to protect himself. He also moved away from the man, before going to the bathroom to escape, he said.

‘‘I felt quite uneasy at the time...uncomfortable.’’

He agreed when defence lawyer Susan Hughes, QC, said there was no way to tell if the man was awake or not at the time of the touching.

The older of the two Palmerston North complainants said he woke up due to being warm, and found the man touching his bottom and feet.

The pair had their backs to each other at the time, he said.

He was unsure if the man was awake, but said the man moved towards him while he tried to get away.

He could only move so far due to the tight sleeping arrangements, he said.

The complainant, who was 15 at the time of the alleged offending, said the camp participants went to the Lido swimming pool the next day.

Adults were told about what the man had allegedly done while they were at the pool.

The man was seen leaving the mosque later that day, the complainant said.

Crown prosecutor Michael Blaschke said the Wellington incidents happened while people were staying at the mosque to study and pray at the end of Ramadan.

Two teenage boys who slept at the mosque said the man indecently assaulted them by touching their genitals.

The boys tried to move away from the man, but he would move his bedding closer, Blaschke said.

They did not know the man, but picked him out from a photo lineup.

Hughes said the man had explanations for both sets of alleged offending.

‘‘As with everything in life, context is the most important aspect.’’

The Palmerston North incidents involved the boys and the man sleeping in close quarters.

She told the jury they needed to see if the boys’ accounts were consistent.

‘‘You simply can’t be sure what happened, and can’t exclude accidental touching.’’

Meanwhile, the man maintained he was not the person involved in the Wellington incidents, Hughes said. ‘‘He wasn’t there when they say they were assaulted.’’

The incidents apparently happened in busy thoroughfares about 9am, when other people would have been around, she said.

The jury should also think about why the date of the alleged assaults had changed three times, and why the complainants had not been interviewed until a year after the incidents, Hughes said.

That all meant they could not be sure the man was the offender, she said.

The jury trial before Judge Lance Rowe is expected to last the week.