Man found guilty of historical sex offences

A 75-year-old Horowhenua man has been found guilty of indecently assaulting a young girl on a camping trip.

After a judge-alone trial in the Palmerston North District Court, Judge Bruce Northwood delivered his guilty verdicts on Thursday.

The man, who has interim name suppression, was convicted of three charges including unlawful sexual connection and indecent assault.

The three-day trial, held earlier in March, heard the man and his wife accompanied the girl’s family on camping trips in the 1970s and 1980s across the North Island. Other families would also join them. On one occasion at a site in the Waikato region he told the girl to change out of her togs inside his caravan.

In there, he laid the girl down on a bed and kissed her neck before performing a sex act. He asked the child if she “liked it”, and remarked “most people do”.

The abuse was cut short when a caged bird the man was supposed to be caring for started squawking.

The girl remembered being told to quickly get dressed, before her abuser rushed outside.

He did not testify or advance any defence at trial, but in a police interview played to the court said the allegations were sick.

He denied abusing the child and told a detective : “I’ve never touched her ... I cross my heart to that.”

He was interviewed while in prison for other sexual offending.

As the detective read the charges, the man could be heard saying: “Oh come on ... no”.

He “didn’t need this” as he had just come out of surgery, and if he saw the victim he would tell her she was a “f ....... liar”.

But on Thursday, Judge Northwood told the man all three charges were proven.

He did not outline his reasons for reaching the guilty verdicts in court, but in a written judgment said the child saw the man as an uncle, and a trustworthy person.

When he asked her to enter his caravan, she recalled the clothes he was wearing and that her parents were elsewhere in the campground.

She also remembered the man exposing himself to her and saying: “Oh there’s something else that you might like more”.

The judge found her to be a credible witness and said all three charges had been proven beyond reasonable doubt.

The man was remanded in custody and a sentencing date was set down for July.

Sexual violence: where to get help Rape Crisis 0800 88 33 00, click link for local helplines.

Victim Support 0800 842 846. Safetalk text 4334, phone 0800 044 334 webchat safetotalk.nz or email support@ safetotalk.nz.

The Harbour Online support and information for people affected by sexual abuse.