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Allegations
of Sexual Abuse |
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One of the country's
top policeman will give evidence in his own defence today, in the face of
20-year-old sex abuse allegations. Assistant Police
Commissioner Clint Rickards is charged with raping and sexually assaulting
Rotorua woman Louise Nicholas in the mid-1980s. Rickards' lawyer John
Haigh QC says the vast discrepancy between his client's claim of consensual
sex with Mrs Nicholas and her accusations, cannot be explained by poor
memories and errors. He says while the
sexual freedom of the time may seem astonishing, it is impossible to ignore
the evidence of Mrs Nicholas' former flatmate that the encounters were
convivial and friendly. He says Mr Rickards
could not have offended in police uniform as Mrs Nicholas says, as he was not
in the uniformed branch at the time. |
