|
|
Allegations
of Sexual Abuse |
|
|
|
|
A woman yesterday told
a High Court trial she was set up to be gang-raped by five men on the pretext
of a date with one of them. Events surrounding the
alleged pack rape of the woman, then aged 20, at Mt Maunganui in January 1989
were outlined in Wellington yesterday. Four men face trial as
a result of a complaint laid by the woman in March last year. A fifth man
alleged to have been involved has never been identified. Two of the accused were
public servants at the time. Widespread orders were made preventing
identification of the accused, details which may reveal their specific
occupations then and now, and the description of two items said to have been
involved in the alleged offences. Christchurch Crown
Solicitor Brent Stanaway is prosecuting. The woman told the
court she was working at Mt Maunganui in the summer of 1989 when she met
three of the five men through her work. She developed an
attraction for one, which she had thought was mutual, and asked one of his
associates - another of the accused - to set up a date. The associate agreed
and arranged to take her to meet the man she liked so the pair could have
lunch together. Instead she was taken to a building in Mt Maunganui. She had wanted a chance
to get to know the man away from the others. "It was supposed to be a casual,
lighthearted [meeting]." When they arrived the
man who took her there said: "In you go, he’s waiting for you." She went inside to
discover there were five men present and an old stained mattress on the
floor. "I got a hell of a shock." The woman is to continue her
evidence today. In his opening, Mr
Stanaway said the woman was by then fearful. She was told to lie down.
"She felt powerless and believed she had no choice but to do what they
said. She then knew she was going to be raped." She was restrained, her
clothes removed below the waist and the men took turns raping her. The two
civil servants masturbated as the other raped her, Mr Stanaway said. When one
finished raping her he said to the other: "Here you go man, your turn".
One of the civil
servants forced her to perform oral sex and penetrated her roughly with an
object up to 20 times. The other penetrated her with his fingers. In their opening
address, lawyers for the accused said all four men admitted having sex with
the woman but said it was consensual and denied she was detained. Defence lawyer Tony
Balme said the woman would be exposed as having "developed a series of
lies". A second defence
lawyer, Rachel Adams, said the woman was "a willing and even
enthusiastic participant" in group sex. She asked the jury to
understand the mood of Mt Maunganui in the summer. "There was a huge
influx of young people. It was the liberal 80s."
* Four men who have
name suppression face charges of rape and abduction after the alleged pack
rape of a 20-year-old woman at Mt Maunganui 16 years ago. * Two are also charged
with unlawful sexual violation. * One man is also
charged with a second count of rape and unlawful sexual violation. * The men have pleaded
not guilty to all charges |
