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Allegations of Sexual
Abuse in NZ |
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A woman who secretly taped a man
allegedly admitting he raped her has been described as a "drama
queen" and "manipulative" in Palmerston North District Court. The woman took the stand and told
the court that Trevor Ernest Connolly, 47, a joiner, had made her life hell
after the pair split up, coming around to her house and demanding sex before
he would leave. The Crown case is that Connolly
raped her on March 9, 2003. The woman told the jury of seven women and five
men that on that day Connolly came to her house to talk about their
relationship and later pushed her on to a bed and raped her. The woman said she did not make a
formal complaint to police till July 2004 because she had no faith in the
police. The court was played a tape the
woman made of a conversation with Connolly as they sat in a car parked at a
supermarket. She had made the recording on her lawyer's advice and it
included Connolly acknowledging that what he had done was wrong and he
apologised. Connolly's lawyer, Mike Antunovic,
said the complainant was making up her testimony "as we go along".
He questioned why she had not reported Connolly to police when he was
demanding sex from her. She replied that she did not trust the police, but
admitted she had called them about alleged thefts from her property. Mr Antunovic dissected her
statement to police, pointing out several discrepancies between that and an
affidavit she swore in April 2003, including how the rape happened. The woman
became distressed several times during cross-examination, frequently lapsing
into tears. Mr Antunovic again said that the
alleged rape was a pack of lies, when the complainant was unable to explain
the discrepancies. "You are a drama queen and that's what happens to
you, isn't it? Things get out of control," he said. "You are a very
manipulative person." The case is proceeding. |
