Dunedin woman's indecent assault claims 'borne out of obsession' with uncle, lawyer claims

Otago Daily Times

18 Jun, 2020 12:40 AM3 mins to read

Dunedin District Court.

A woman who says her uncle indecently assaulted her was a fantasy borne out of her obsession with him, the man's lawyer says.

The judge-alone trial of a former Southern police officer in the Dunedin District Court continued yesterday, when the man took the witness stand.

One charge of indecent assault was dropped yesterday, leaving three active charges.

The man, who has name suppression, is accused of touching the woman, his niece by marriage, repeatedly on her bottom and once on her breasts, when she visited him and his wife at their Otago home between December 23, 2018 and January 5, 2019.

He strongly denied the accusations when giving evidence, saying he was not attracted to the woman and was happily married.

Under cross-examination by Crown prosecutor Robin Bates, he did acknowledge complimenting the woman's appearance on two separate occasions.

Bates argued the man did in fact harbour sexual feelings towards his niece, and that his actions escalated until the woman could no longer take it and left.

While there were no witnesses to the incidents, Bates submitted that they could have occurred without being seen by people in the vicinity.

He said the complainant had presented a "totally understandable and credible narrative" about what had occurred.

Counsel Anne Stevens QC took a different view, describing the woman's account as a fantasy, and that she was obsessed with the man rather than the other way around.

There was considerable evidence the woman's thinking was "delusional", Stevens argued.

She said there was no explanation as to why her client, a man of "impeccable integrity and good character", would suddenly become a sexual predator.

She also said the woman had plenty of opportunities to tell her aunt, and a friend, about the alleged incidents during her stay. She did not.

But, Bates said, the suggestion an alleged victim would tell the first person she saw what happened was an "outdated myth", because situations could be complex.

Judge Jim Large reserved his decision until this afternoon.