Ex social worker charged with sex abuse

AUCKLAND: The High Court trial of a former Child, Youth and Family worker, who once cared for a teen murdered in the back of a prison van and is now accused of abusing more than half a dozen boys, began in Auckland yesterday.

Earl Opetaia, a former approved CYFS worker who looked after Liam Ashley before he was murdered in 2006, faces 33 charges over allegations of abusing eight boys.

He initially faced 47 charges over allegations of abusing 17 boys, but 14 of these charges had been withdrawn by the Crown.

The current charges include multiple counts of indecent assault of boys aged between 12 and 16, sexual violation, supply of cannabis and methamphetamine, and threatening to kill.

Opetaia pleaded not guilty to all charges before Justice Ian Gault.

A jury consisting of six men and six women was selected yesterday.

Opetaia was due to go on trial in April in the High Court at Auckland, but this was postponed to February this year due to the Covid19 lockdown.

Opetaia originally had name suppression, but this lapsed in January last year after Crown prosecutor Sam Teppett successfully argued for Opetaia’s name to be published before his trial so other potential complainants might come forward.

Many of the complainants were allegedly sexually abused by Opetaia over several weeks or months when he was working for CYFS — now Oranga Tamariki — between 2002 and 2006.

The trial has been set out for six weeks, but is expected to last for less than that. — The New Zealand Herald