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Allegations of Abuse
in NZ |
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Tea Ropati - League Star accused
of rape |
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One News Former New Zealand rugby league
star Tea Ropati has been found not guilty of six counts of rape and sexual
violation. The charges arose from incidents at
a bar in the Auckland suburb of Ponsonby in June 2006, involving a
36-year-old woman. The jury delivered its verdict on
Thursday afternoon, the eighth day of the Auckland District Court trial,
after nearly 12 hours of deliberation. Ropati was accused of sexually
violating a woman at an Auckland bar and then raping her in his car at a
nearby park in 2006. There were emotional scenes in
court when the verdicts were given and Ropati's family called out
"justice has been served". Ropati denied the charges and said
he and the complainant did not have sex and that any other activity was
consensual. The jury of seven men and five
women returned to the courtroom on Thursday to view security footage of
Ropati and the complainant in the back room of the Whisky Bar prior to them
leaving the bar together. The jury also asked the Judge to
clarify the definition of attempted sexual violation. The Crown alleged Ropati raped the
woman he had meet in the bar when she was unconscious after heavy drinking,
although she says she has no memory of an actual assault. |
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