Sports coach indecently assaulted boy

ROTORUA: A sports coach has been found guilty of indecently assaulting and doing an indecent act on a 12yearold boy.

However, a Rotorua District Court jury has found Pamela Kulukulu Purdie (23) not guilty of exposing seven boys under 16 years of age to indecent material.

The guilty verdicts were majority decisions from the jury of 11 which deliberated for almost eight hours yesterday before announcing its decision.

Judge Josephine Bouchier convicted Purdie and remanded her on bail for sentencing on May 2.

She called for a presentence report and victim impact statements and issued Purdie with a threestrikes warning.

Purdie had pleaded not guilty to all charges when the trial began on Monday.

Crown prosecutor Ngaroma Tahana alleged the coach had shown the boys pornographic videos on her cellphone while they were having a sleepover at her home but her lawyer, Harry Edward, emphasised evidence that some of the boys had called up the videos.

The jury had heard the other offending happened when Purdie got into bed with two of the boys, fondling one intimately and putting his hand on her exposed breast.

Outside the court the father of the sexual abuse victim said he was relieved a decision had finally been reached, that it had been a long time between the offending in April last year and the coach’s trial.

‘‘It is what it is. I am relieved it’s all over,’’ he said, referring to the notguilty verdict. —

NZN