The former political figure arrives at court. Photo: RNZ/Calvin Samuel
- A former political figure is on trial, accused of sexually abusing two teenagers in the 1990s
- It's the Crown's case the accused plied two teenagers he was mentoring at a sports club with alcohol and sexually abused them
- The defence says the complainants are making the allegations up and the incidents never happened
The jury in the trial of a former political figure accused of sexually abusing two teenage boys in the 1990s has now heard the defendant's side of the story.
The man, who has ongoing name suppression but is not a sitting MP, is on trial in Auckland this week, having pleaded not guilty to nine charges of indecent assault.
The charges related to two male complainants who say the man sexually abused them in towns in the Auckland and Waikato regions between 1995 and 1999.
The prosecution has now presented a statement the defendant made to the police in December 1999, after the first complaint was made, and a video-recorded interview he did with the police more than two decades later in January 2023, after the other complainant contacted the police.
Defendant's police statement in 1999
Detective Sergeant Richard Veacock investigated the 1999 complaint, speaking to more than half a dozen witnesses and recording a handwritten statement from the defendant two months after the complaint was made.
In this statement, Veacock had put to the man that a teenager had stayed in his bed at his house one night and woken up in the early hours of the morning to find the accused's hand on his groin.
The then-detective constable put to the defendant that the teenager said he had to remove the accused's hand three times and that on the final removal, the accused had pulled the hand to his own groin area, where the teenager could feel pubic hair.
The defendant said this was "untrue".
He told the police officer he had socialised with a group of people at his house that night and consumed "a considerable amount" of alcohol.
"[I was] drunk but not so drunk I didn't know what I was doing," he said.
He recalled the complainant had also consumed a lot of alcohol and that he had returned to his room that night to find the teenager "spread out on the bed" asleep.
It was not common for others to sleep in his bed but the night had been "spontaneous" and people were crashing at his home because they were too drunk to drive, he said.
Veacock asked the defendant why the complainant would make his allegation of sexual assault.
"A week or so earlier I may have adjusted his horizons because I inferred I wasn't the be all and end all in regards to a role model of the club.
"It was more than just the club and I also inferred life in general.
"He took it well but I'd like to say here that I don't know why he would make the allegation but I would like to know."
Asked about what his relationship with the complainant was like after the alleged incident, the defendant said it was normal, "all was good".
"This is the first time I've heard the full allegation. I have heard a lot of talk in the local community. I'm anxious to have the matter resolved."
The police did not charge the defendant after investigating this complaint.
Under cross-examination, Veacock confirmed no other complainants came forward during his 1999 investigation and that when he contacted the other complainant in this case in early 2000, they did not make a complaint.
Defendant's police interview in 2023
The current officer in charge of the case, Detective Alistair Harford, arrested the defendant in January 2023 and interviewed him in a police station.
This was after a second complainant, who said he was sexually abused between 1995 and 1997, had contacted the police after seeing the defendant in a news article.
Harford told the court he had then pulled the 1999 complaint from the police archives.
In a video-recorded interview with the defendant, Harford asked the man if he knew about the sports club event the police officer had been talking about.
It was at this event, an away sports club trip, that the 1995-1997 complainant said he was first abused.
The defendant paused before saying: "The allegation is that I touched [this complainant] inappropriately, which I deny."
"[The complainant] got himself very drunk that night, very distressed. He was found in the [Waikato town] estuary by his friends who had gone looking for him. I was summonsed from my motel unit to assist to get him out of the water and to settle him down.
"Team effort that was done. He was hypothermic. We took his wet, cold clothing off him, we put him in a shower, we put him in a sleeping bag and put him on the floor to sleep it off."
Harford put to the defendant that the complainant said he last remembered vomiting in a car that night and that when he came around, he was lying in a bed with the defendant, and the defendant was naked and sexually abusing him.
"I refute it. It didn't happen. He was in a sleeping bag. That's how you warm hypothermic people up; you put them in sleeping bags."
Harford then put to the defendant that this complainant had said that on another occasion, in 1997, he had gotten drunk at the defendant's house and woken up undressed in a bed next to the defendant who was naked and sexually abusing him again.
"I deny it. It didn't happen," the accused responded.
"I have no recollection of that. I don't think it happened. I know it didn't happen."
When Harford moved on to questions about the 1999 complaint, the defendant thanked him for the opportunity to review his police statement taken at that time.
"My position is that I provided a statement, answered questions, police have looked at this, they parked it there.
"I deny the allegations that were made then and are made now. I don't want to go any further."
At the end of the recorded interview, Harford asked the man why the 1995-1997 complainant would make his allegations up.
"I don't know. I'm just ... I don't know what has prompted him to make a complaint. All I know is it didn't happen and I'm really comfortable in myself saying that."
Harford then asked the man why the 1999 complainant would make his allegation up "very shortly" after the alleged assault.
"Again, I don't know what his motives or thinking was. Sorry, I can't be inside that mind."
More material from today
Earlier today, the 1999 complainant's mother said her son was "extremely distraught" when he first talked to his parents about what happened.
"[He] came in and the moment he came through the door you knew something was wrong.
"He said that he was drunk, they had been drinking, he had gone to bed and woken to [the defendant] fumbling with the zip on his trousers ... he swore and pushed [the defendant] away and left.
"I remember my husband wanting to knock [the defendant's] block off."
The defence has elected not to call or give evidence.
This means the Crown and defence will close their cases on Friday before Judge David Sharp gives a summary of the trial.
The six men and women on the jury will then retire to deliberate their verdicts on each of the charges.
Where to get help:
Victim Support 0800 842 846
Rape Crisis 0800 88 33 00
HELP Call 24/7 (Auckland): 09 623 1700, (Wellington): 04 801 6655 - push 0 at the menu
Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP) 022 344 0496