Allegations of Abuse
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A former Northland police officer
has been committed for trial accused of handcuffing a woman and raping her in
the Kaitaia police station. Timothy Nicholas Ogle, 45, was a
constable when the alleged incident happened in March 1988. At a depositions hearing in the
Auckland District Court yesterday, Judge Fred McElrea lifted name suppression
on Ogle, who is now an investigator in Queensland. Ogle was granted bail and the case
was sent to the High Court at Auckland for trial. The court heard the alleged
victim, now 61, agreed to give Ogle a lift home from the Awanui Hotel. In a written statement handed to
the court, the woman said that on the way Ogle put his hand under her leg,
but she brushed him off and didn't feel threatened. Her main concern was that he
smelled of vomit and she was worried he was going to be sick in her car. The woman said that Ogle said he
wanted to stop off at the station to pick up his running gear. He went away but returned a few
minutes later. "The defendant told me one of
the car lights was faulty, and that I could not drive home like that,"
the woman said. She said she got out to check. "The next thing I felt was a
bang on my right wrist. I looked and saw that I had a handcuff around
it." She said Ogle then handcuffed her
other hand as well. The woman said Ogle agreed to
remove the cuffs but said the keys were in the office. "In the office he kissed me
with an open mouth. He smelled of alcohol and vomit. "I didn't fight him because I
was quite intimidated by him and because I was handcuffed." She said she protested that she
wanted to go home but Ogle told her she could go once he "screwed"
her. He then allegedly raped her and
committed other indecencies. She hit him with her handcuffed
hands, though she said she thought it would only make him mad. The woman said she tried to leave
evidence of what happened. "While the defendant was
putting on his trousers, I pulled out a few strands of my hair and put them
on the carpet." She also put her fingerprints
under the edge of a desk in an effort to leave evidence. Ogle threatened to "do"
her if she told anyone. "I can get you in all sorts of ways," he
allegedly said. She reported the incident to the
police and was visited later by Sergeant Colin Yates. "I told him what happened and
about the fingerprints. "He didn't take any statement
or make any notes and I didn't sign anything," she said. Ogle was charged last year. He
told police: "I am totally innocent." The woman's partner at the time
said in a statement: "I recall [the complainant] saying 'if you can't be
safe with a policeman, who can you be safe with'. " The former partner, who worked at
the hotel, told the judge: "She asked me if I thought it was okay [to
give Ogle a lift] and I didn't think it would be much of a problem." He told Ogle's lawyer, Gary
Gotlieb, that when he saw her later in Ahipara she said: "It was a great
mate you sent me home with", or words to that effect. He told Mr Gotlieb the woman was
distressed and crying and she said she had been raped. Former Detective Inspector Brian
McFadden told the court that he took a statement from Ogle in July 1988. He agreed it was his understanding
that a decision was taken not to lay charges at the time, though Ogle faced a
police disciplinary hearing and subsequently left the police. Mr McFadden said he gave evidence
at a civil trial into the matter in 1994. Cross-examined by Mr Gotlieb, he
said he made a note that the woman's lawyer said they were satisfied with the
thoroughness of the inquiry and they "would not make a public
fuss". Mr McFadden said disciplinary
action was taken against an officer over the handling of the investigation.
* Former Constable Timothy Nicholas Ogle faces four
charges of rape, one charge of unlawful sexual connection, two charges of
attempted unlawful sexual connection and one of assaulting a woman inside
Kaitaia police station |