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Allegations
of Sexual Abuse in NZ |
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A hung jury in the New
Plymouth District Court yesterday were unable to decide if a New Plymouth man
sexually abused a young girl. Donald James Hancock
(60), horticulturalist, faced a total of six charges, including indecently
assaulting and sexually violating a young girl under 12, and inducing her to
perform an indecent act on him, between December 1997 and December 2001. The three-day trial
finished yesterday after closing arguments from Crown lawyer Cherie Clarke
and defence counsel Kylie Pascoe. The jury retired just before noon, but they
returned to Judge Louis Bidois for guidance about 3pm. Almost two hours later,
the jury reported they had reached a stalemate. It is likely a retrial
will be held in January. Miss Clarke said, in
closing, that Hancock's interest in the victim, who was 8-9 years old when
the alleged offending started, was sexual. He had told the victim
not to tell anyone, on two occasions, after he had sexually abused her, Miss
Clarke said. Hancock had kept photos
on the wall of his home of the girl, including one in which she was dressed
in lingerie, and another of her and her mother in bikinis. He had also made
weekly payments to the victim. It was significant that
the victim could remember what she was wearing on the occasions she was abused
by Hancock, and she was clearly distressed when giving evidence as a witness
at the trial. However, Ms Pascoe said
the alleged abuse by Hancock was nothing more than a story made up by a manipulative
teenager, now 15. There were
inconsistencies in her account of the alleged abuse, and dates and times of
events did not fit in with her mother's recollection. She explained Hancock
had taken several photos of the victim and her family, and often sent them
copies. The victim had also
failed to tell Child Youth Family social workers about the abuse when they
visited her on three occasions as a child, Miss Pascoe said. |
