I was invited, senior officer claims at trial
Senior police officer Kevin Burke has claimed one of his alleged sexual assault victims wanted to show appreciation by ‘‘presenting herself naked’’ to him.
The detective inspector is on trial at the High Court in Auckland, where he denies two counts of indecent assault and two counts of sexual violation against two complainants in 2002 and 2003. Burke maintains he was invited to dinner when he arrived at a complainant’s house with a box of beer and a bottle of wine in 2002, a week after she met him to report a suspected fraudster.
The complainant, then aged in her 40s, alleges he turned up unannounced and proceeded to sexually assault her.
Yesterday, Burke, who has elected to take the stand in his own defence, was cross-examined by Crown prosecutor Jo Murdoch. Murdoch suggested it was a lie that the complainant invited him to dinner and that they had met for coffee before the night of the alleged assault, as Burke has claimed.
Burke said they had become friends. ‘‘We developed a friendship. I was invited for dinner, we’d been both drinking and matters progressed,’’ he said.
Asked whether he considered it unusual that after meeting a woman in the course of his professional duties, in a matter of days he went on to have a sexual relationship with her, Burke responded: ‘‘It is perhaps unusual, yes.’’
He said it was not something he did commonly.
Burke said the pair had common interests, were ‘‘getting on very well’’ and the woman wanted to ‘‘show appreciation’’ for his investigation into the suspected fraudster she had reported. ‘‘She wanted to show her appreciation by inviting a man who was a stranger around to her address and then presenting herself naked to you?’’ Murdoch asked.
‘‘I can’t answer on behalf of [the complainant],’’ said Burke.
‘‘Well, that’s what you’re claiming,’’ said Murdoch.
‘‘Well, that’s exactly occurred,’’ said Burke.
The defence case is that the pair shared dinner; Burke then retired to a spare room in the woman’s house, where she joined him and undressed.
The complainant alleges that upon being shown to the spare room, Burke forced her to the floor and assaulted her.
The trial continues. what