Abuse claims firmly denied

Orchestrated by complainants’ mother, accused says

A JURY heard for the first time from a man accused of more than 50 rapes of his two stepdaughters when a recording of his police interview was played.

The man has been on trial in the Dunedin District Court since the start of the week, facing 14 sex charges against two teenage girls.

Both of the complainants told police the abuse began when they were 8 or 9 years old.

They each answered questions from the witness box over the first few days of the trial and their police interviews from 2015 were played for the jury.

Yesterday, the man accused of inflicting years of abuse on them gave his side of the story.

A DVD of him speaking to Detective Boyd Smart in Sept ember 2015 showed the defendant making firm denials in relation to all the lewd allegations.

The officer told him there were rape and molestation claims.

The man responded: ‘‘That’s what they say? Have they been examined? Have they been tested at a hospital?’’

He told Det Smart a medical examination would be able to show if they had lost their virginity.

Both teens said their stepfather had lured them into the bed he shared with their mother while she was away at work.

They claimed he asked them for a back rub, which progressed to sexual abuse.

When questioned, the defendant admitted he had received massages from the girls but said he specifically took safeguards against any allegations being made.

‘‘I said to [their mother], I don’t want to ever be accused of anything, because I’m the stepfather. If I had a sore back and it needed to be rubbed with Deep Heat, they were both present; never alone,’’ he said.

When Det Smart asked him why the girls would lie, he had a theory.

He believed the accusations were orchestrated by his expartner because she was annoyed he had left her.

The man had walked out of the relationship in 2014 and gone to live in Mosgiel, the court heard.

‘‘Are you saying there’s a big conspiracy? [Your exgirlfriend] trying to get back at you?’’ the officer asked.

‘‘Yes,’’ the defendant said. ‘‘It’s pretty farfetched. To be honest [she] didn’t even believe [her daughters], because she trusted you,’’ Det Smart said. ‘‘There might have to be another explanation because I don’t believe [she] put them up to it.’’

The girls previously gave evidence that their mother had not believed them when they first raised the issue.

The defendant said there might have been sexual abuse going on in the house but believed the girls’ older brother was the perpetrator.

‘‘Gut instinct. I’d put it down to that,’’ he said.

Later, he told police about a time the complainants’ mother had sent them to stay with her friend, who was a prostitute.

The defendant said the girls became upset, asked to be picked up and would not say what had happened.

The trial, before Judge Kevin Phillips, is expected to conclude next week.