Police withdraw all but one indecent assault charge against rap artist

Martin Frost is charged with indecently assaulting a woman overnight on November 28 to 29. Photo / NZME

All but one indecent assault charge have been dropped against a man who has been in custody for a month on charges of kidnapping and raping a woman.

After the police withdrew 12 charges against Martin Frost, a rap artist who is known as Young Shuck, bail was no longer opposed and he has now been released.

Bail was refused before Christmas for Frost, and has remained in custody ahead of an application for release on electronically monitored bail which was scheduled to be heard this coming Friday.

He originally faced charges of abducting a woman for sex, two charges of rape, as well as indecent assault, several charges of unlawful sexual connection, and supplying the drug ecstasy.

He was due to enter pleas to all those charges today, but instead defence counsel April Kelland told Christchurch District Court Judge Quentin Hix that the police had filed a memorandum seeking to withdraw all but one charge.

Kelland said the defence did not oppose the withdrawals.

The defence can sometimes ask for charges to be dismissed so that they cannot be relaid.

Frost is still charged with indecently assaulting a woman overnight on November 28 to 29, and he has pleaded not guilty to that. The charge has been remanded to a case review hearing on February 17.

Judge Hix released Frost on conditions that he live at a specified address in Bexley, have no contact with the complainant and stay a specified distance away from two addresses in Christchurch and rural Canterbury.

Sexual harm - Where to get help
If it's an emergency and you feel that you or someone else is at risk, call 111.
If you've ever experienced sexual assault or abuse and need to talk to someone, contact Safe to Talk confidentially, any time 24/7:
• Call 0800 044 334
• Text 4334
• Email support@safetotalk.nz
• For more info or to web chat visit safetotalk.nz
Alternatively contact your local police station - click here for a list.
If you have been sexually assaulted, remember it's not your fault.