Raniera Tau appears for trial in the Whangārei District Court on eight charges related to alleged indecent assault. Photo / NZME
WARNING: This article discusses sexual assault and may be upsetting to some readers.
Consent or no consent?
That will be the big question for a jury in the case of a former prominent Māori leader accused of indecently assaulting a teen when they were staying at bach in the Far North.
Raniera Tau also known as Sonny Tau, denied six charges of indecently assaulting a female over the age of 16 and three charges of perverting the course of justice when his trial began in the Whangārei District Court today.
The Crown alleges Tau messaged the girl’s mother and offered to take her fishing for the afternoon in early 2017.
The mother agreed, thinking her daughter would be returned that evening. But once 40km away in the remote area of Rangi Point, Tau allegedly told her they could not return as the tide was too high and would have to stay the night at a friend’s bach.
Crown lawyer Geraldine Kelly said Tau planned to stay there as he had contacted the bach owner days earlier and requesteduse of the house.
In an evidential interview played to the court on day one of the trial, the girl said Tau lied about the tide being high.
The 16-year-old said she became scared she was so far away with no way of contacting anyone and Tau asked if she would prefer to sleep in the bed with him, to which she agreed.
Once in the bed, several alleged indecent assaults occurred including kissing her neck and back and other touching.
Kelly said the girl was taught to respect her elders and did what she was told when he asked her to undress.
Tau, who was 63 at the time, allegedly told the girl he had testicular cancer and placed her hand on his genitals.
“I remember feeling confused and lost like why is he doing this? I remember feeling really scared cos I did not know what was going to happen next,” she said in her interview.
“I just laughed, but in my laugh, I was scared.”
The girl allegedly became extremely uncomfortable feeling as though she had no way out.
The following day, Tau allegedly tried to touch the girl again and when he dropped her home, moved his face to suck her bottom lip when she kissed him goodbye on the cheek as was normally culturally appropriate.
The girl said on the way home Tau had allegedly told her he wanted to take her out again but needed to come up with a plan so his wife did not find out.
“He said a lot of things to me like he wanted to marry me and if anyone was good enough for me it was him and if he was younger he wanted to date me,” she said.
When she got home she told her cousin and weeks later Tau discovered she had disclosed to her parents what had allegedly happened.
The Crown said Tau allegedly tried to approach the girl’s parents three times to prevent an investigation from continuing.
On one occasion, a meeting was arranged with her parents at the Ngāpuhi Rūnanga, where he held the role of chairman for 10 years. A second approach was made at Ngāpuhi festival and a final attempt at a marae meeting.
The girl told Tau she would accept $120,000 on the condition he told his wife.
“Tau refused to tell his wife and that was that,” Kelly told the jury.
Tau’s lawyer Arthur Fairley said the focus of the trial would be consent.
“This is not a court of morals, you’re not here to determine if my client should have morally or immorally done something.
“The pivotal thing to focus on is consent.”
The trial is expected to last four days before Judge Taryn Bailey.
Shannon Pitman is a Whangārei based reporter for Open Justice covering courts in the Te Tai Tokerau region. She is of Ngāpuhi/ Ngāti Pūkenga descent and has worked in digital media for the past five years. She joined NZME in 2023.
Police have returned to the house where they say Karen White was killed on March 8.