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Allegations
of Sexual Abuse |
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Police have
"parked" a hut that was allegedly the scene of a pack rape outside
a Wellington court and forced the hand of the judge who had yet to decide if
jurors should see it. In the High Court
yesterday, Justice Ron Young told jurors it had been done without his
permission. He had made his view
clear about the inappropriateness of that, he said. Some jurors saw the hut
over the lunch break when it had been placed in a street beside the court. Justice Young said the
police action forced his hand, as he had to make sure all jurors saw the same
thing. He said the jury would
see the hut to get a feel for its dimensions and what it looked like now, but
there was no real evidence about differences between its current state and
how it was in January 1989 when the alleged incident happened. Since the trial began
on June 20 jurors had photographs of the hut which once stood at Mt
Maunganui, but the judge had yet to decide if they would see the actual
building which had been brought to Wellington. Four men aged 40, 46,
47, and 53, are charged with detaining a woman without her consent with
intent to have sex with her, and raping her. Two of the men face two
extra charges of sexual violation by unlawful sexual connection and one of
them faces an extra charge of rape. They have pleaded not
guilty. Key details about the case have been suppressed, including the men's
names. The woman, now 37, said
she thought she shared a mutual attraction for one of the men and asked a
go-between to arrange a lunch date. Instead she was taken to the hut where
five men raped her and other indecencies took place, including being violated
with an object. The men agree sex took
place but say it was consensual. In evidence yesterday
one of the accused confirmed he and the woman were attracted to each other.
He said he was flattered when another man told him she "had the
hots" for him. A few days later the
same man said the woman wanted to have sex with him and at least one other
man at the hut. He went along with a
friend and each had sex with her. The witness said the woman gave him oral
sex while his friend had intercourse with her. One man had been with
her when they arrived, and another was arriving as they left, he said. He said she rang him
the following week and they met and had sex again. He said she lied about
her hands being bound, not consenting to the sex acts, and an object being
used. "(The woman) was a
very, very passionate and a very, very forward lady. If she was not happy she
would have let you know, no matter what the circumstances," the man
said. |
