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Allegations of Sexual
Abuse in NZ |
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A man accused of raping a woman
after they met on the internet sent nude pictures of himself to her, a
Palmerston North District Court jury heard yesterday. The pair made contact on
NZDating.com at the beginning of June last year, and a meeting a few days
later resulted in the 27-year-old woman claiming she was raped. A 31-year-old Wellington man is on
trial charged with rape and sexual violation. His name and occupation are
suppressed. The woman's profile on the
internet dating site said she was "looking for a bed buddy" and the
pair corresponded frequently in the days leading up to June 9, when the man
allegedly raped her. They exchanged calls, emails and
text messages, and the man at one point emailed naked pictures of himself to
the woman, the court was told. The woman spent most of yesterday
on the stand recounting what happened at her home the night the pair met for
the first time. She told the court the man drove
from Wellington to her Palmerston North home on June 9 last year. They spent time chatting and
watching television before he persuaded her to go to her bedroom so that he
could give her a massage. There, she said, the accused tried
to kiss her before violating her and raping her. Soon after the man left, he sent
her a text message that read: "I feel bad, sorry for raping you." Under cross-examination from the
man's lawyer Val Nisbet, the woman said she was "not sure" if she
had originally suggested the pair meet in a motel. Despite the sexual nature of their
communication leading up to the meeting, she said she made it clear she did
not want to have sex. "I warned him before he came
I just wanted to talk and have a coffee." They were alone in the bedroom
between about 10.30pm and midnight. Her flatmates and children were in
other parts of the house. "What you and the accused did
in that room for an hour-and-a-half is have sex, isn't it?" "No, I said no. "He knew I didn't want to
have sex with him." When the woman became upset giving
evidence yesterday, Judge Nevin Dawson asked her if she wanted to take a
break. "I just want to get it over
with," she said. Mr Nisbet put it to her that she
could have left if she didn't want to have sex. "I should've done a lot more,
but I didn't because I didn't know what to do." When Mr Nisbet said it happened
because she let it happen, the woman screamed at him: "He did it. "I wouldn't be here if he
didn't do it, I wouldn't put myself through this." |
