Sex accused a relative

A Masterton man facing several historical sex charges involving children aged between 4 and 7 was granted name suppression in the Masterton District Court yesterday because the alleged victims are related to him.

The man, 42, is facing four charges of indecent assault and one of sexual violation involving a boy and a girl aged between 4 and 7 years old at the time.

The offending is alleged to have occurred between July 26, 1993, and September 8, 1995.

Lawyer James Elliott, who yesterday represented the accused, asked that the man's name be suppressed because the alleged victims were related to him.

Prosecutor Sergeant Jodie Lawrence said police would not oppose suppression.

However, she sought conditions for bail, which included that the accused reside at a Masterton address, not be intoxicated in a public place and not have any unsupervised access to any person under the age of 16.

Judge Bill Hastings said he would grant interim name suppression on the basis that the alleged victims were related to the man and he agreed with the bail conditions sought by Ms Lawrence.

The accused will re-appear in the court on May 9.