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Allegations
of Sexual Abuse in NZ |
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A north Waikato woman
accused of blackmailing her ex-husband with accusations of rape allegedly
told him she would contact police unless he paid their children thousands of
dollars. The 67-year-old, who
has name suppression, denies one charge of blackmail relating to an incident
with her ex-husband on January 5 last year. In her opening address
in the High Court at Hamilton yesterday, Crown prosecutor Tini Clark told the
jury the woman threatened to go to police with accusations of rape and mental
and physical abuse unless the man wiped one son's significant debt and gave
an equal sum of money to his other son and daughter. The accused was married
to the complainant for 24 years. The father had lent his
eldest son more than $250,000 since 2000 for business ventures, but in
December 2003 the son's firm was liquidated. On January 5 last year,
the woman presented the complainant with two documents to sign. They stated
he would wipe all money owed by the eldest son and gift a similar amount to
his two other children. He refused to sign. "She told him if
he didn't sign it, she would go to the police and say he raped her, her
daughter and her niece," Ms Clark said. The father made a
complainant with police that afternoon. Several hours later the woman lodged
a rape complaint. Before 1986 rape within
marriage was not considered an offence, so the husband was not investigated. Defence lawyer Mike
McIvor said in the circumstances, the woman was acting in a reasonable way to
help her children. The trial before
Justice Nicholson continues. |
