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Allegations of Abuse
in NZ |
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Tea Ropati - League Star accused
of rape |
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http://www.nzherald.co.nz/topic/story.cfm?c_id=246&objectid=10490482 NZ Herald
Tea Ropati leaves court with wife
Vanessa and their baby after Thursday's not guilty verdicts. Acquitted rape-accused Tea Ropati
is behind a family threat to carry out a private prosecution of his accuser
for her admitted cocaine use. Brother John Ropati, a barrister,
last night confirmed the family were furious the woman's snorting of the
class A narcotic had gone unpunished. Asked if Tea Ropati and another
brother, Peter, the Sky broadcaster, supported the private prosecution, John
Ropati replied, "Absolutely". "There was a huge song and
dance made when the celebrity drug ring was before the courts, so what's the
difference here? "Perhaps police could clarify
... the way these women are being treated. Is it because these women are high-flying
from the Ponsonby set?" Tea Ropati, 43, was acquitted on
Thursday of six sex charges, including rape and sodomy, laid after he met the
36-year-old woman at the Whiskey bar in Ponsonby Rd on June 15, 2006. It was revealed during the hearing
that the woman - who has permanent name suppression - had snorted cocaine
with friends that night. John Ropati said the family were
prepared to have their name again dragged through the mud, though he did not
believe they should have to. "We should not have to do it
because it's the police's job and they should uphold the law and not hand out
favours to anyone. Someone in that group had the cocaine that night, someone
supplied it to the other members of that group - that's possession for
supply," he said. But the detective who played a key
role in the Ropati prosecution yesterday rejected a claim by the Sunday News
that the former league star's accuser is herself under police investigation. Detective Senior Sergeant Scott
Beard told the Herald that the claim the woman was "the focus of a class
A drugs investigation" was incorrect, and police planned only to
"review" the case in a post-trial debrief with the Crown. "We will ... ask what we
could have done better, what our strong points and our weaknesses were." Mr Beard said "a minimal
amount" of cocaine was found in a urine sample, and the woman had been
"quite upfront about it". Officers had to weigh the
"evidential sufficiency and public interest" of a prosecution, he
said. "At this stage police are not
looking to lay any charges." Mr Beard was puzzled as to what
the Ropati family hoped to gain by mounting their own prosecution. "I am not sure if it is
re-victimisation, but I am not sure why they would want to do be doing that. "In the end, the Ropati
family would have their reasons for that." A spokeswoman for the woman said
the Ropati family's plans were "a matter we won't be addressing". |
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