The Crown says a junior rugby coach and teacher aide used his position of trust in the community to sexually abuse 18 boys over nearly 30 years.
Alosio Taimo on trial in the Auckland High Court. Photo: RNZ / Edward Gay
Alosio Taimo has denied 83 charges relating to boys as young as nine on trial at the High Court in Auckland.
Crown prosecutor Jasper Rhodes said Alosio Taimo was a respected member of his community who used his position of power to prey on the boys.
"He abused them frequently, repetitively, in a number of different ways, at a number of different locations."
That included in the school sports' shed, in his car and in his home.
"He was well-respected as a community member, as an experienced teacher aide and as a successful rugby supporter and coach for young, ripper rugby teams.
"It was this trust that allowed the defendant to be in a position to care for these boys - or at least that's what their parents thought.
"Allowing him to transport the boys around to and from rugby training, to and from school, and often let them stay at his house or even live with him for extended periods of time."
Taimo was held in high-regard by parents and others in the community.
"And it was this trust that the defendant ultimately exploited and abused for his own pleasure. It was this trust that allowed the defendant to get away with it for so long."
Mr Rhodes said a witness would also describe how Mr Taimo would assault him if he refused to be abused.
He said the mother of the victims confronted Taimo.
"She says he dropped to his knees, he said: 'What [victim] said I did to him was true'. He was crying, he apologised and promised never to do it again."
Mr Rhodes said the woman never went to the police. That happened years later in 2016.
Mr Rhodes said a woman heard her nephew talking to another child about what Mr Taimo had done to him.
She knew her son had also been in the care of Mr Taimo and contacted him only to learn that he too was a victim.
"Understandably upset, she ended up calling the police...kicking the whole thing off."