|
|
Allegations
of Sexual Abuse |
|
|
|
|
Wellington: Two men
accused of a pack rape 16 years ago have broken down defending themselves
against a woman’s claims. The trial at the High
Court at Wellington was adjourned briefly yesterday while the 47-year-old
accused composed himself. “This whole thing has
devastated my life and everyone around me,” he said, crying. He said the woman
involved had agreed to every sex act he and a friend had with her in Mt
Maunganui in January 1989. 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 both face two extra charges of sexual violation
by unlawful sexual connection. Both men pleaded not
guilty and their 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 building and raped by five men. She said the last one
was nervous and seemed reluctant. The man she was
speaking about, now aged 40, yesterday 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 said he had been
very nervous and embarrassed when he arrived at the building where the
incident 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”. She was willing and
enthusiastic. “If anything, she was the one who seemed to be in control,” he
said. He then broke down and
court adjourned briefly. She was friendly
towards 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 building,
where the incident took place, 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. |
