‘Bribed’ to have sex
A witness has claimed an Ashburton man on trial for rape had been ‘‘technically bribing’’ his alleged victims to have sex with them.
The man, who cannot be named to protect the identity of his alleged victims, is on trial in the Timaru District Court on six representative charges of sexual violation by rape of two girls.
On the first two days of the trial on Tuesday and Wednesday, in DVD interviews played to the court, the alleged victims claimed the defendant had either paid them to have sex with him, or told them to keep quiet about what he’d done.
During a DVD interview from May 2, 2016 and played to the court on Friday, a witness said the two girls had described how the defendant was ‘‘having sex with them in their bed’’.
‘‘They told me that he’s kind of doing it while I’m there ... they told me that [the defendant] has started to do sex with them and [the defendant] is bribing them with money and stuff.’’ The witness said that on one occasion the defendant came up to one of the alleged victims and gave her some money before leaving. ‘‘I asked what it was for, she [the victim] said it was for sex so he is technically bribing her to do it ... he gave her like about $15.’’ During the interview the witness also said that in a spa the defendant had been ‘‘putting his hand down their [the alleged victim’s] pants’’.
In her interview the witness said she had woken up one night to find the defendant sitting on the girl’s bed. ‘‘I just woke up and [the defendant] said ‘don’t worry about it’, and [the girl] said ‘I found a spot’ and I [was] just wondering what she was meaning, [the defendant] took away the sheets, he got some sperm on the sheets on [the girl’s] bed.’’
In cross examination, defence counsel Craig Ruane asked the witness if she had told one of the victims to write a letter detailing what the defendant had allegedly done to her.
The witness replied that she had. ‘‘I just asked her [the victim] if she could write a letter saying what [the defendant] did to her,’’ the witness replied.
‘‘You had to tell her what to write?,’’ Ruane asked the witness. ‘‘I helped her, I didn’t tell her what to write, I just gave her some ideas,’’ the witness replied. The trial is set to continue on Monday.
Other matters
A man who raped an intoxicated woman in Timaru after a social event and indecently assaulted another victim has been jailed. Ratu Lepani Tagicakibau Nausu was sentenced in the Timaru District Court on Friday to three years and 11 months in prison for sexual violation by rape and six months for indecent assault. Nausu was 19-years-old when the rape took place, three months after he indecently assaulted another victim in a bed they were sharing.
Nausu pleaded guilty to the rape charge, which occurred in July this year. Judge Joanna Maze said the victim was vulnerable as she was ‘‘obviously drunk’’ and incapable of fending off Nausu.
After she refused Nausu’s sexual advances he picked her up, took her to a secluded area and raped her. The Crown initially claimed the victim had sustained physical injuries, but at sentencing prosecutor Victoria Skelton admitted the Crown could not prove her injuries were connected to the rape. Defence lawyer Lee Lee Heah said Nausu was a ‘‘young man of few words’’ but he was ‘‘extremely remorseful’’. His sentences will be served concurrently.