KEY POINTS:
A jury today will continue to deliberate on 33 sex charges against a Waitara man who described himself as a youth counsellor.
Peter Robert Jordan, 64, is accused of raping and sexually abusing four male youths from 1986 to 2007.
The jury in the High Court at New Plymouth deliberated for six hours yesterday, after a week long trial, the Taranaki Daily News reported.
The Crown told the court Jordan had abused the victims at time when they needed their protection and help.
The victims said he had piled them with alcohol and drugs.
Jordan denied the charges and said any sexual activity he had engaged in was consensual with people older than 16.
Five charges, relating to a fifth complainant, were withdrawn after the man suffered epileptic seizures, including one in the witness stand, which police said were caused by the stress of giving evidence.
- NZPA
