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Allegations
of Sexual Abuse in NZ |
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A District Court trial
for the father and uncle of a deaf woman who alleged years of abuse is over
after she was found incompetent to give evidence. The woman, who the
Crown claimed had not been able to disclose years of abuse till she learnt
sign language aged in her 20s, had been under cross-examination by defence
lawyers yesterday when the question of her competency arose. Her father had been
charged with seven counts of indecent assault, while her uncle was charged
with rape, committing an indecent act and indecent assault. Both have permanent
name suppression. Yesterday, Wellington
District Court judge Bruce Davidson said he had made the decision that the
woman, who was significantly mentally impaired, was incompetent. He said that, during
questioning, it became clear that the woman struggled with concepts such as
truth, lies and promises and did not understand the roles of judge, lawyer or
jury and seemed unaware of who and why they were in a court. He discharged all the
counts against the uncle and all but one against the father, who was remanded
on bail till April 11. |
