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Allegations of Sexual
Abuse in NZ |
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Three News Three sons of an eastern Bay of
Plenty church minister have been jailed for attacking a man they wrongly
accused of raping their sister. Vincent, 29, Blaize, 27, and
Trinity Akuhata, 20, were all jailed for three years at Rotorua District
Court yesterday for injuring Delmar Coates with intent to cause him grievous
bodily harm to Delmar Coates. They are sons of Murupara Elim
Church pastor Te Ta'ahe Akuhata, The Dominion Post reported. The court was told the three men
had been to a party and next morning were told by their sister that she had
been raped. They went back to the address of
the party and were told the offender was Mr Coates. The three men forced their way
into his house in Murupara and beat him around the head and body with a
baseball bat, in front of his partner and 18-month-old son. They later found out Mr Coates was
innocent of the claim. Mr Coates was in hospital for two
days with a broken nose, rib fractures and bruised kidney. Lawyers for the trio called for a
sentence of home detention. Judge Jocelyn Munro said the three
men were remorseful over their actions. However, she said the
"vigilante-type attack" was premeditated, and "completely and
utterly unprovoked", and those aggravating factors meant home detention
could not be considered. Outside the court, Pastor Akuhata
said the family was extremely sorry for the actions of his sons. |
