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Allegations
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The Dominion Post A woman trying to make an assault charge against her boyfriend "go away" ended up causing more serious trouble for herself when she did a letter drop falsely accusing the victim - her former husband - of paedophilia. Unemployed, in need of counselling, and financially ruined by the relationship which has now ended, she appeared in the High Court at Wellington on Friday after pleading guilty to charges of blackmail and attempting to pervert the course of justice. The woman, 47, whose name is suppressed to protect her former husband, had repeatedly tried to convince him to withdraw an assault complaint he had made to police about her new boyfriend. When her ex-husband did not succumb to the pressure, she threatened to tell his neighbours he was a paedophile. When he still did not succumb, she carried out the threat in late August and September 2006. Police retrieved eight of the letters from neighbours and businesses in Lower Hutt. Justice Simon France said it was a terrible allegation but the distribution was relatively limited and able to be remedied, though the victim still feels he wears the false label. Her response had been wholly out of proportion to the minor risk her new partner faced on the assault charge, to which he eventually pleaded guilty and was fined, the judge said. Justice France sentenced the woman to community detention, which will confine her to her home five nights a week for nine weeks. She also has to do 200 hours' community work and undergo 12 months' supervision. |
