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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
Tea Ropati is defending six sex
charges. Former league hero Tea Ropati will
argue his alleged sexual violation of a woman he met in a central Auckland
bar was a consensual act and that he was "a creature of
circumstances". His lawyer, Gary Gotleib, yesterday
told an Auckland District Court jury not to think of the 42-year-old as a
sexual predator, but as a man who fell in with a woman and her friends who
had been "binge drinking, taking cocaine and marijuana". The former Warrior faces six
charges of attempted sexual violation, sexual violation, rape and sodomy,
stemming from a June 15, 2006, incident in Ponsonby's Whiskey Bar. It is alleged Ropati met the
then-36-year-old woman about midnight on June 14, and - after attempting to
sexually violate her in a back room - took her to nearby Victoria Park. There, prosecutors say, the former
Warriors player sexually violated, raped and sodomised her as she lay passed
out in his car. Ropati denies all the charges. Prosecutor Phil Hamlin said Ropati
was "on the prowl" when he arrived at the bar, and was "very
active" in his flirting with the woman - who prosecutors say was
extremely drunk and affected by drugs. Ropati met his alleged victim soon
after his arrival and had flirted. But about 2am Ropati's behaviour became
more overtly sexual, and events took "a significant turn for the
worse". The Whiskey has a back room, where
Ropati was seen to take the woman, Mr Hamlin said. Video footage played to the court
shows Ropati apparently attempting to perform a sexual act on the woman in
the room, which was described by one witness as somewhere patrons could
"continue their social liaisons". The woman told the court she
remembered aspects of the evening, but not any of the alleged incidents until
she woke up in Ropati's car. "I recall coming to. I recall
an angry face over me. It was an angry, twisted face. I remember being in
extreme pain." "I said 'you can't get away
with that' ... He said 'shut the f*** up'." She said Ropati eventually gave
her $40 before allegedly telling her to "get the f*** out of my
car". Police spoke with Ropati about two
months after the incident, when Ropati had told officers he remembered
meeting the woman, Mr Hamlin told the court Ropati also admitted having had a
few drinks and to groping the woman later in the evening. However, he said the woman had
been "fully consenting" and the pair were just "being
idiots" in the bar. Mr Hamlin said Ropati had admitted
taking the woman to Victoria Park, where they came close to having sex.
Ropati then told investigators he stopped after he "got the
guilts".
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Faatea (Tea) Ropati ·
Born: September 7, 1965 ·
Clubs: Newcastle Knights 1988, St Helens 1989 to 1994, Warriors 1995
to 1999 ·
National Rep: Junior Kiwis, Kiwis, Samoa ·
British league player of the year: 1992/1993 ·
Played in the inaugural Auckland Warriors match against Brisbane
Broncos in March, 1995 |
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