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Allegations
of Sexual Abuse |
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Two men accused of a
pack-rape 16 years ago have broken down while defending themselves against a
woman's claims. The trial in the High
Court at Wellington was adjourned briefly yesterday while a 47-year-old
composed himself. "This whole thing has devastated my life and everyone
around me," he said, crying. The woman had agreed to
every sex act he and a friend had with her in Mt Maunganui in January 1989,
the man said. She was lying about not
consenting, having her hands bound, and being violated with an object. "I have sat here
day in and day out. It makes me sick," he said. "Does it disgust
me? Yes, it does disgust me, but there was no rape, there was no force
whatsoever." He and three other men,
aged 40, 46 and 53, are charged with detaining a woman without her consent
with intent to have sexual intercourse with her, and raping her. He faces an extra rape
charge, and he and his friend each face two extra charges of sexual violation
by unlawful sexual connection. Each man pleaded not
guilty and the trial is due to end next week. Key details have been
suppressed, including the names of the men. The woman said she had
arranged through a go-between to have lunch with one of the accused but
instead she was taken to a hut and raped by five men. She said the last one
was nervous and seemed reluctant. The man she was
speaking about, now 40, denied he had seen what the others had done to her
and tried to distance himself from it. He said a workmate had
arranged for them both, and two other men, to have sex with a woman. The witness said he
knew of the woman but did not think he had spoken to her previously. He had been very
nervous and embarrassed when he arrived at the hut where the incident is
alleged to have happened. Three men were outside
and one said to him, "In you go", but the woman had not been
expecting him. He said she was not
angry or distressed, and after a while said something like, "You are
here now, you might as well stay". The woman was willing
and enthusiastic. "If anything she
was the one who seemed to be in control," he said. He then broke down
and the court adjourned briefly. She was friendly toward
him when they met at a concert about a week later, he said. On Wednesday, Justice
Ron Young said police had acted inappropriately in bringing the hut to court
before he had decided if the jury should see it in person. Yesterday it was the
turn of the defence to cause what the judge called a "parallel"
event, bringing into court an object before Justice Young had decided if the
jury should see it. "I have made it
clear to counsel for the accused that what was done then was inappropriate
and should not have happened," he said. The lawyers begin their
final addresses in the case today. |
