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Allegations
of Sexual Abuse in NZ |
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A man accused of
sexually violating a woman he met on an Internet dating website was last
night cleared of all charges. After a two and a half
day trial at Wellington District Court a jury found the man, who has name
suppression, not guilty of three counts of sexual violation by unlawful
sexual connection. The man, 44, had met
the complainant, a professional woman in her 40s, on NZDating.com, where both
had set up profiles. After exchanging
e-mails and talking on the phone the complainant agreed to let the man come
to her house in suburban Tawa on the morning of Sunday, May 15 last year. She told the court she
preferred to meet people first in a cafe or other public place, but agreed to
meet the man at her house after he repeatedly assured her he could be
trusted. She claimed shortly
after arriving he asked her if she was horny and when she said no, pushed her
down on the couch and sexually violated her three different ways. The accused said he had
made it clear he was only coming around for sex and the complainant was happy
with that. He said she enjoyed it,
was a willing participant and when she said what they were doing was not
right for her he stopped and left. The pair had talked
about sex in earlier e-mails and the night before had engaged in phone sex. In his closing
arguments defence lawyer Mike Antunovic said the woman's complaint was false
and she was not credible. "What she told you
is inherently unbelievable." He said there had been
no evidence that the jury could rely on to find the accused didn't believe
the woman had consented. He referred to e-mails between them, the phone sex
and her behaviour during the incident – she had not resisted him and had
helped him take off her jeans. "What's he
supposed to think?" Crown prosecutor Kate
Feltham said the complainant was an articulate, mature woman and it was
"abundantly clear" she had not consented. She had showed interest
in the accused and thought sex may evolve over time. "But she didn't
want sex with him that day, particularly within minutes of him walking
through the front door." By contrast the accused
wanted sex and sex only, she said. "Not only did he
want sex, he was determined and persistent in getting it." The complainant should
not have agreed to meet him at her home but sadly had let her desire to meet
someone for a long-term relationship override her sense of judgment, Ms
Feltham said. Summing up the case to
the jury Judge Chris Tuohy asked them not to be prejudiced by any views they
may have on Internet dating. To be successful the
Crown had to prove on each of the charges that there was a sexual connection
without the woman's consent or without a belief on reasonable grounds that
she had consented. The jury of eight men
and four women deliberated for more than seven hours before returning not
guilty verdicts on all three charges. |
