Scoutmaster cultivated nudity on trips, jury hears

A scoutmaster encouraged a culture of nudity on trips with boys, some of whom he is alleged to have sexually abused over the past 40 years, a Wellington jury has heard.

The 69-year-old man faces 26 charges of indecent assault, doing an indecent act, sexual violation by unlawful sexual connection and doing an indecent act in a public place.

He has pleaded not guilty to all charges and has name suppression.

Crown prosecutor Claire Hislop made her closing submissions to the Wellington District Court jury yesterday, saying the complainants were telling the truth about what happened.

She said that when the scoutmaster led the troop, being naked was the norm on a lot of trips. There was naked chasing and wrestling and skinny-dipping.

Hislop said the scoutmaster would manipulate the boys into touching, giving them compliments and suggesting it was cool to touch or masturbate.

Hislop said one of the complainants had described a violent rape that had left him sobbing into his pillow.

The defence has said that with regard to five of the complainants, the scoutmaster said the allegations were made up. He admitted a sexual encounter with one of the boys but said it was consensual, and the boy was 16.

Hislop suggested that if the complainants were making it up, they would have made it much worse.

She said they outlined a pattern of behaviour, with vulnerable boys on trips, and a pattern of over-familiarity allowing him opportunities to satisfy his own sexual interest.

Defence lawyer Mike Antunovic said the scoutmaster was not the crazy risk-taker driven by sexual desire that the Crown would have the jury believe.

‘‘He came from hippie times, when freedom was seen as a good thing,’’ he said. A bit of nakedness did not worry him.

He warned the jury about seeing events of the past through a different lens, affected by the police investigation and that the man was facing a lot of charges.

The Crown has failed to prove their charges by a country mile, Antunovic said. A rape did not happen in the middle of the day and touching did not happen with others in the next, or even the same, tent.

He said the jury had to overcome reasonable doubt like it was an Olympic hurdle.

‘‘What could be worse than being falsely accused? I can’t ask you to like him but to give him a fair trial.’’

Antunovic said some of the allegations were ‘‘arrant nonsense’’ and the complaints were false.

Judge Peter Hobbs is expected to sum up the case today.