Violation claims devastate mother

A MOTHER has told the court of the heartbreaking moment her daughter made claims she was sexually violated.

‘‘I walked out of the room because I didn’t know what to do,’’ she said. ‘‘I was absolutely beside myself.’’

The 67yearold man accused of abusing the child has name suppression until the end of his Dunedin District Court trial.

He has pleaded not guilty to five counts of sexual violation by unlawful sexual connection and four of sexual conduct with a child under 12.

The complainant’s mother first asked her daughter whether someone had molested her when the girl complained of soreness while using the toilet in July 2015.

She said nothing untoward had taken place and there was a similar denial a month later after the complainant had showered.

‘‘It was not until we walked into her bedroom that she started crying,’’ the woman said.

‘‘She said she’d lied to me about someone touching her down there . . . She was reluctant to say who it was because she was scared the person was going to get into trouble.’’

But the girl disclosed the name of the defendant and made a police statement days later.

It is alleged the man abused her on several occasions between 2013 and 2015 in his Dunedin homes and at various motels around the country.

Following her police interview, the complainant was examined by paediatrician Dr Jennifer Corban, who told the jury yesterday she found no abnormalities.

It had been five and ahalf weeks since the complainant’s last contact with the defendant.

Dr Corban said ‘‘fondling’’ did not always cause injury and if it did, genitalia could heal very rapidly and leave no residual signs unless the initial harm was severe.

Defence counsel Anne Stevens suggested one of the reasons the girl’s tests came back as normal could be that there had been no violation.

‘‘Correct,’’ Dr Corban said.

The complainant’s father also gave evidence yesterday, telling the jury of his daughter’s explosive ‘‘tantrums’’.

He said she would bang her head against the walls, scratch her own face, say she wished she was dead and did not want to spend time with friends.

‘‘It was like my daughter had gone from someone being happygolucky to these uncontrollable rages of anger and tears. She was very sensitive if you told her off or pulled her up on something

She’d just flip out. We didn’t know what was going on,’’ the man said.

He believed the episodes often took place after the girl had spent time with the defendant.

‘‘You don’t know if these allegations are true do you?’’ Mrs Stevens asked.

‘‘It could explain a lot in regards to my daughter’s behaviour,’’ the witness said.

The jury also heard from the complainant’s teenage brother.

He said the defendant would take him and his sister away on trips when they would spend the night in motels together.

The teen recalled at least one occasion when the man had slept in the same bed as the complainant.

Under crossexamination, he confirmed he had never witnessed any sexual assault take place.

He spoke about a game called ‘‘beat up’’, which involved the three of them.

The Crown says it was during such ‘‘rough games’’ that some of the alleged abuse took place.

‘‘It was like tickling,’’ the complainant’s brother said. ‘‘Shoving each other around, play fighting sort of thing.’’

The trial, before Judge John Macdonald and a jury of seven men and five women, is scheduled to conclude this week.

rob.kidd@odt.co.nz