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Three generations of one family were allegedly the victims of a 69-year-old Auckland man who faces serious historical sexual assault charges.
The man, who has name suppression, was charged with indecency between a man and a boy, indecent acts on a girl under 12, rape of a girl under 12 and indecent assault of a girl (or girls) aged over 16.
At the Auckland District Court on Friday, the man's daughter, niece and sister were present in a show of support.
Police allege the offences date back to about 1968, and the Herald on Sunday has learned three generations of a family are involved.
The bespectacled, grey-haired, office manager showed little emotion during his court appearance at which he was granted bail.
Inquiry head Detective Sergeant Andy King said the allegations first came to light a couple of months ago and police had been investigating since.
"There may well be more charges laid at a later date, and who knows how much further this investigation will take us in terms of allegations about who offended against who and how."
The man will reappear in Auckland District Court on June 22.
Earlier, King told the Herald on Sunday a spate of historical sex abuse cases had been reported in the wake of the high-profile police sex trials in which assistant commissioner Clint Rickards was acquitted on a raft of charges.
In March, in the fortnight after Rickards and fellow former officers Brad Shipton and Bob Schollum were found not guilty of raping a woman in the 1980s, eight women came forward to lay historical sex complaints with Auckland detectives - some attacks dating back to the 1970s.
King, who is head of the Auckland sexual assault unit, said police normally received only one historical sex complaint each week, so an influx of eight cases would tie up his officers for months.
King said the case before the court on Friday involved up to 30 witnesses who all needed to be interviewed for the investigation.
"We're talking about a massive amount of man hours," he said.
"Every case is different, but we investigate each one so thoroughly that it's time consuming, and difficult to prove because of the historical nature."
