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Allegations
of Sexual Abuse |
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Police Assistant
Commissioner Clint Rickards and two former police officers have returned to
court to face a preliminary hearing over sexual allegations made by Rotorua
woman Louise Nicholas. Rickards, who has been
stood down from his job as Auckland central commander, faces charges along
with former officers Bob Schollum and Brad Shipton. The trio were arrested
in March. Rickards, Schollum and
Shipton face a total of 20 charges in relation to alleged historical sex
offending against Nicholas. Details of the charges
have been suppressed since the three men were arrested in March. Rotorua District Court
judge Chris McGuire lifted some of the suppression orders at the start of the
deposition hearing. The charges allege that
the three accused raped, sexually violated and indecently assaulted Nicholas
while they were working as police officers in Rotorua in 1985 and in 1986.
Nicholas was aged 18 at the time. Details of some charges
remain suppressed. The three men deny the
charges. Outlining the Crown's
case Mark Zarifeh said that Rickards and Shipton visited her flat between six
and a dozen times with the sole purpose of having sex. Zarifeh said Louise
Nicholas felt powerless to resist them because they were police. On one occasion he said
Schollum picked up Nicholas and took her to Shipton's flat where she was
assaulted by the three accused and a fourth man. A witness who is now
Louise Nicholas's mother in law told the court she was curious about police
cars parked outside the flat but never asked why they were there. Phylllis Nicholas told
the court she once found Louise doubled up in pain but refusing to go to
hospital. The prosecutor told the
court that Brad Shipton and Clint Rickards often went to Louise Nicholas's
flat to have sex, and she felt powerless to stop them. The hearing in the
Rotorua District court is expected to take up to two weeks. |
