Jury deliberating on historical Porirua rape, sex assault charges from the 60s and early 70s

Raymond Bradley is charged with raping and indecently assaulting two girls in Porirua in the 60s and early 70s, both of whom were tehn aged under 12. Photo / 123RF

The jury have begun deliberating in the trial for a former Porirua man facing historical rape charges from the 60s.

Raymond Bradley is charged with raping and indecently assaulting two girls in Porirua in the 60s and early 70s, both of whom were aged under 12 during some of the alleged offending.

The trial, which started on Monday last week, came to a close this afternoon, with the jury of seven men and four women being sent out to come up with a verdict. One of the jurors was discharged yesterday due to illness, bringing the total number down to 11.

During the trial at the Wellington District Court, jurors heard evidence of Bradley offending against both girls on a number of occasions between 1960 and 1972. The earliest charge is dated between 1960 and 1961, when the complainant was about 7 or 8 years old, and Bradley would have been 13 or 14.

The 71-year-old faces five counts of rape, three of indecent assault, three of performing an indecent act, and one of inducing a girl to do an indecent act on him.

Bradley moved to the US when he was a young man and lived there permanently until a few years ago when he moved back to New Zealand.

Upon finding out he was living in New Zealand again, the complainants contacted police about the historical allegations.

His son, Kristen Bradley, gave evidence via audiovisual link from America, saying his father confessed the crimes to him during a heated phone conversation.

Defence lawyer Wayne McKean said in his closing address to the jury that Bradley was not confessing the crimes to his son, but was confessing to having had sex with one of the complainants.

He said all charges relating to the first complainant were not accepted and that her evidence was "rubbish", and that while Bradley did have sex with the second complainant, it was consensual.

In his summing up today, Judge Denys Barry reminded the jury people who had been sexually abused might not react in ways that could be expected.

"Some, in distress or shock, may complain to the first person they see. Others may react with shame, shock, or confusion and may bottle it up and not go to the police for a long time. There's no typical response, experience shows," he said.

Given the length of time between the alleged offending and the trial, Judge Barry said the jury would need to decide for themselves whether they trusted each witness' recollection of events.

"The Crown case relies unabashedly on you accepting the complainants' accounts," he said, adding the jurors would need to exercise particular caution in considering evidence of what happened "all those years ago".

The jury went out about 1.30pm.