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Allegations of Sexual
Abuse in NZ |
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An innocent man spent six days in
custody after a woman made a false assault complaint, the Christchurch
District Court has been told. Judge Stephen Erber told Jasmine
Moana Huta, 22, that what she did affected the credibility of legitimate
victims who could have their genuine complaint viewed more sceptically. "What you have done devalues
the currency of other people who claim to be in the position you said you
were in," he said. Huta admitted a charge of making a
false complaint. Sergeant Brent Register said that
on July 6 Huta complained to police that her boyfriend had attacked her by
grabbing her round the neck, holding a knife to her cheek and saying he would
"make her ugly". She made a written statement of the alleged events
and signed it. The man was charged with male
assaults female and assault with a weapon and was remanded in custody for six
days until the charges were withdrawn. Huta admitted she made up the
accusations out of revenge for her boyfriend breaking up with her, Register
said. Lawyer Craig Fletcher said Huta
regretted the incident. She was under stress from the break-up, had lost her
job and her grandmother had just died. Diversion was declined by the
police because of the nature of the charge, but the victim had forgiven her,
Fletcher said. The judge said the police were
right to decline diversion. This type of offence could not be viewed
leniently, the victim having been jailed because Huta lied. She was sentenced
to 70 hours community work. |
