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Allegations of Sexual
Abuse in NZ |
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The first of two twins testifying
in the case against a New Plymouth doctor told the High Court at New Plymouth
that a newspaper article about the case prompted her to call police last
year. She also told how she phoned her
twin about the experience that same day. Under cross-examination from Harry
Waalkens QC, the complainant (41) admitted sharing a very close relationship
with her twin sister, who is also a complainant in the case. "I did not persuade her to do
anything," the woman said, when asked how much it had been discussed. "She decided of her own
accord. "We haven't really talked
about the really intimate parts. All she had said to me was that she had had
an uncomfortable thing too." The woman is one of 12
complainants giving evidence in the trial, expected to last another three
weeks. The doctor, who has name
suppression, denies the 37 sexual assault charges he faces dating from 1981
to 2002. The complainant told the court her
religious upbringing meant that she regarded professionals very highly. "They were just one step down
from God really," she told Crown prosecutor Cherie Clarke. "I
trusted (the doctor) and held him in high regard. I had no reason not
to." That was until the doctor
allegedly massaged her breasts during a pregnancy consultation. "He said his reason was to check
and see if my breasts were all right for breastfeeding," she said,
demonstrating how the accused rolled her nipples between his thumb and
forefinger. "I don't recall saying
anything. I just felt hugely embarrassed and put my head down and waited for
him to finish. "I trusted him and I was
naive," the woman said when asked why she did not change doctors
straight away or tell someone. "I just put the thought in the back of my
mind." Under cross-examination, the
complainant said she had also visited the doctor a number of times after the
incident, including for a sore throat in 1994. "If you truly believed (he)
had violated you, you'd have gone and seen another doctor for your sore
throat," Mr Waalkens said. Another complainant told the court
that she had also visited the doctor during her pregnancy, with her husband
on all but one occasion. The woman, now 41, told the court she was worried
about having eaten shellfish during her pregnancy after extensive media
coverage of lysteria in 1997. She was also told her breasts
needed to be examined to check her ability to breastfeed. "I was surprised, but I'd
never been pregnant before, so I said OK," she told the court. After the
doctor touched her nipples, he told her she would have to toughen them up if she
wanted to breastfeed – with a nail brush. "I was gobsmacked," she
said. Under cross-examination by Susan
Hughes, the woman agreed medical records showed her husband was with her for
only one of her consultations. During the consultation for
shellfish concerns, she had been rated by the doctor as a 12 on a scale that
rates anxiety, 12 and over being very anxious. Earlier yesterday, Ms Hughes
cross-examined the complainant who, during Thursday's evidence, admitted to
having hallucinations. "Quite often, it's just a
hand on my shoulder and sometimes it's like someone pulling the bed covers
off me when I'm asleep." She also talked of seeing cars
coming towards her in her lane while she was driving. "Within a couple
of seconds, the blink of an eye, it's gone. "I . . . felt him doing the
things he did and with a couple of blinks it had not stopped and he was still
doing them." The Crown case is expected to
conclude late next week. |
