The former political figure arrives at court. Photo: RNZ/Calvin Samuel
Warning: This story contains details of sexual abuse
- A former political figure is on trial, accused of sexually abusing two teenagers in the 1990s.
- The man, in his 50s, has ongoing name suppression but it can be reported he is not a sitting MP.
- 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 two men are making the allegations up and the incidents never happened.
Friends and relatives of the two men who say they were sexually abused by a former political figure have now given evidence in the case.
The accused is on trial in the Auckland District Court 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 jury has now heard from friends or relatives of both complainants who have recalled what the then-teenagers told them more than 20 years ago.
A female friend of the second complainant said the young man had told her about "an incident he didn't feel comfortable with" while they were talking on the phone one night.
"He had gotten drunk at a party and taken himself to bed and later in the evening [the defendant] had come into the bed and was being shady and then in the morning [the complainant] left.
"He also talked about a party coming up and he didn't want to go to the party, he didn't feel comfortable, he was going to send some of the boys to beat him up. I told him not to do that and to tell an adult."
Under cross-examination, the friend confirmed the complainant told her he had "a few things to sort out" with the defendant and that he "just wanted to kill him" in that same conversation.
Another friend of this complainant recalled a conversation the pair had while driving to the sports club together one day.
"He didn't seem his normal self. Usually we young lads just talk a lot and especially [the second complainant], he was always very chatty, but for some reason it was a bit awkward and I asked him if he was all right.
"He said something happened at the party...that he'd had a bit to drink and that he was going to go to sleep and then he later on woke up to [the defendant] touching his penis.
"He was in a bit of shock and took [the defendant's] hand off his private parts."
The friend said his initial reaction to the disclosure was "disbelief".
"It really caught me off guard. Then when I looked back at my mate who was driving, he wasn't laughing.
"Being young guys he thought we should do something about it, like rock up and shout at him or offer him out, doing what he did.
"I was hesitant. I wasn't fully supportive of that. I just said maybe we should turn around, because that's what he wanted to do, and go back to my house and talk to my parents about it."
The friend said the pair ended up going back to his parents' house and talking to his father.
"[The complainant] was up and down, you know. I'd never seen him upset. He was sort of teary and that sort of stuff, and angry, just emotional," the friend said.
The first complainant's sister told the court her brother had visited her overseas in the late 1990s, several years after the alleged assaults, and told her he had been "sexually violated" by the defendant.
This complainant's father became emotional in court when he said the defendant had the care and responsibility for their son when he was on the sports club trip.
His mother said the then-teenager had returned home from the trip without a handknit sweater he had packed and she later found out the defendant had taken it home with him to wash it because the complainant had vomited on it.
A friend of this complainant, who had also lived with the defendant off and on for some years, said there had been "a lot of drinking" on that sports club trip - one of the locations the first complainant says where he was sexually assaulted.
He said the complainant contacted him several years ago and told him something had happened to him in the 1990s.
"I hadn't been in contact with [the first complainant] for a long time. He made contact with me out of the blue...he said [the defendant] got me.
"He didn't elaborate but I took that to mean something sexual had happened."
Earlier, under cross-examination, the second complainant denied he had downplayed how much he'd had to drink on the night he said he was sexually assaulted.
He did confirm he'd spoken to a friend about wanting to give the friend " a hiding" and telling multiple people he wanted to "smash him".
The complainant strenuously denied making his allegations up, saying suggestions by the defence the defendant did not touch his groin area was "absolutely not true".
The trial before Judge David Sharp and a jury of six men and six women is set down for five days.
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