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Allegations of Abuse
in NZ |
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Tea Ropati - League Star accused
of rape |
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NZ Herald A former Kiwi rugby league star will
stand trial in the High Court for an alleged sex attack. The player yesterday conceded
through his lawyer Gary Gotlieb that he had a case to answer on three charges
including rape, sexual violation and sodomy. His alleged victim is a 37-year-old
Auckland woman. Both the player and the woman have name suppression. It is alleged the man sexually
assaulted the woman in the Victoria Park area of cental Auckland after the
pair were drinking at the Whiskey Bar, on nearby Ponsonby Rd. Prosecutors say the former player
raped and violated the woman in the back of his car, before throwing money at
her and throwing her out of the vehicle. It was revealed during the two-day
Auckland District Court depositions, which finished early this afternoon, that
the woman and her friends had been drinking heavily in a number of bars and
restaurants prior to the attack, and that she had taken cocaine in the course
of the evening. The defendant has said the woman
was "fully consenting to every action that happened". In a statement to police in August
last year, he said he met the woman for the first time that evening and she
was "quite a bonnie sort of girl" with a "Kiwi-posh"
accent -- "not the kind of girl I would go out with". After socialising at the bar for an
hour he and the woman went to the bar's back room where they were
"snogging", "groping" and simulating sex. "I thought it was getting a
bit over the top what we were doing." The defendant said the woman was
groping him and at one point "had her leg up on the chair". When asked by Detective Nicolas
Bore why they went to the back room the defendant replied "I dunno,
there's no reason. "Why does anyone go in the
back room? We were just socialising." When asked if either the woman or
defendant performed oral sex on each other there, the man said 'no'. When he left the woman assumed
they were both leaving together, he said. She told the defendant she lived
nearby but once in the car she told him she lived further away, so "we
both agreed to pull into Victoria Park". The defendant said the pair
started "kissing and carrying on" and ended up in the back seat of
the car. When asked if he had intercourse
with the woman the man replied "no, no sex. "We came pretty close to it
but no sex" but the woman performed oral sex on him, he said. The defendant -- who is married --
eventually told her he did not want to carry on as he was feeling guilty. The defendant said he drove her
back to a taxi rank, gave her money for a taxi and drove home. "She wasn't happy about me
giving her money for a taxi. "She was sulking" but
not angry or distressed, he said. Mr Bore showed the man a series of
still photos from video surveillance in the bar and told the man he was
clearly having oral sex with the woman, in the back room. The man denied this and said
"I haven't done anything wrong. "The only thing wrong was
what I have done to my wife." The man said he did not think the
woman's threats would lead to allegations of rape, thinking she would tell
people he was "not a good person, not an honourable guy". The man said injuries found after
a medical examination of the woman "didn't come from me." The man said at no point was he
rough or aggressive and nor had he done anything wrong -- "apart for the
fact I was being a complete tit". Dr Anne Williamson, who performed
the medical examination on the woman, told the court today the woman had told
her she had "rough sex in a car" which she "did not
want". Dr Williamson said there was evidence
of bruising, swelling and ripping in the genital and anal areas which
indicated moderate injuries sustained by recent forceful pressure. Under cross-examination Dr
Williamson said the woman was sure of having sexual intercourse and that he
had ejaculated inside her. There were no traces of semen
found in the samples taken from the woman and no signs of any drugs. The former player was remanded on
bail to a High Court call-over on May 9. - additional reporting NZPA |
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