Man found guilty of a sexual assault on girl

A109 Light Utility Helicopter flight with mayor Gisborne City from the air in November 2023.

A man accused by a young girl of sexually assaulting her has been found guilty by a jury in Gisborne District Court. It was the second trial of its type in the court this week. The first resulted in a not guilty verdict.

The defendant in the second trial, Tuterangi Te Pairi Mihinui, 33, had pleaded not guilty to two charges of doing indecent acts on a girl — both charges arising out of the same alleged incident that occurred when the girl was aged between nine and 11 (she was unable to recall the date).

Jurors reached their decision in just under five hours. Thanking them for their service, Judge Tony Adeane said they had obviously considered the verdict carefully. Had the decision been his to make, he would have reached the exact same one.

“The complainant was a very persuasive young lady and there was not really much answer to the allegation,” Judge Adeane said.

The judge convicted and remanded Mihinui in custody for a report and sentence in the week following a callover on February 29. Mihinui was also issued with a three strikes warning.

Incident happened at family gatheringIn a police interview with a specialist child interviewer, the girl said she had been sleeping overnight at a large gathering of family and friends when she woke to find Mihinui, smelling of beer, had unzipped her jeans and was touching her genitalia. He also kissed her on the mouth. Although it was dark, she could identify Mihinui.

Soon after she woke, a woman entered the room and called him by a nickname, she said. That woman was so drunk she fell over. The girl said she took that opportunity to get up and go to the toilet, afterward going into another room to sleep.

She was too scared to tell anyone about the offending straight away, as many of the adults at the gathering were intoxicated. She was afraid they would not believe her, she said. She eventually told a family member more than a year later.

Defendant said he shouldn't have been chargedInterviewed by police afterwards — the recording of which was shown in court — Mihinui said he had gone into the room that night but it was to check on one of his children. He had not touched the girl and should not be charged. The girl was troublesome. She had been involved with boys, smoking and drinking, he claimed.

During the trial, counsel Bryan Webby questioned how the complainant could have such clarity and recall such detail about something that had happened so long ago.

He pointed to the girl’s comment in her interview that when she first woke, she thought she had dreamed the incident. He put it to her that in fact she was correct — it was a dream. But the girl emphatically denied it.

Tearful in the witness box, she said she could remember what happened and believed in her heart that it had. She also denied Mr Webby’s suggestion that she might have been mistaken in identifying Mihinui as the perpetrator.

Mr Webby put it to her that she was angry when she made the disclosure but the girl and another witness to it, both denied it. The other witness said the girl seemed “sad”, not angry.

Mr Webby said jurors needed to take care great with their decision. When it was reached, it was set in stone. There was no reversing it, he said.