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Neville Collins "I spent the last 20 years
trying to forget. Some things are very, very difficult to forget." These are the words of a man who
yesterday told a court he was sexually abused by an Auckland Boys Brigade
leader as a boy. The man was testifying on the
first day of the trial of Neville Cyril Collins, a former St John ambulance
officer and leader of the brigade, in the High Court at Rotorua. Collins has denied 37 charges
relating to alleged abuse of six boys between 1984 and 1998. The boys were aged between 11 and
16 and Collins between 21 and 35 when the abuse allegedly occurred. Now a 44-year-old married father
of two, Collins faces 25 charges of indecent assault, six of sexual
violation, three of assault, two of attempted indecent assault and one of
performing an indecent act. Some of the charges are
representative, meaning they relate to at least one incident but the
complainants have not been able to provide specific details about the time
and place of the alleged abuse. The court heard that the first of
the alleged victims, now aged 35, was abused by Collins after joining the
Boys Brigade when he was about 10 years old. The victim, who cannot be named,
said he became friends with Collins through the brigade and Collins - who was
about 10 years older than him - would take him on outings alone. Once, at Collins' urging, they
made a hut out of furniture and blankets in a school hall and slept next to
each other inside. The man said he awoke to find Collins masturbating him. "I was absolutely
terrified," the man said. "I wanted it to stop. I felt scared ...
There was no recourse or ability for me to seek help [and] I was scared that
if I said something or actively resisted, that things might become
worse." Other complainants have alleged
Collins committed acts including sodomy and an assault involving a blindfold,
chain and hot spoons. The abuse allegedly occurred at
Boys Brigade camps in Auckland and other parts of the North Island, a house
in Cambridge where Collins lived with his wife and children, in his car and
by public roads, and at an outdoor training camp he ran called Exercise
Novice Warrior. Crown prosecutor Rob Ronayne said
only two of the victims knew each other, but their stories of abuse had
"strikingly similar features". "[It is a] virtual
impossibility that all of their sad stories amount to a coincidence." Collins, wearing a black suit and
blue tie, sat stony-faced throughout yesterday's proceedings, answering
"not guilty" in a clear voice as each of the 37 charges was put to
him. "His position is that none of
this occurred," his lawyer, Matthew Ward-Johnson, told the court. Mr Ward-Johnson said the
credibility of the witnesses was a central issue. "These charges are all
largely historic and care must be taken by you not just to take them at face
value." However, Mr Ronayne said the
likelihood of six men - four of whom did not know one another - concocting
allegations of sexual abuse against Collins was "so remote as to be
ridiculous". A St John spokeswoman said Collins
was stood down as soon as the organisation became aware of the allegations
against him.
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