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A former Dargaville Intermediate School teacher plied two teenage girls with alcohol before raping and sexually assaulting one of them, the Whangarei District Court has been told.
Richard Michael Calder, 38, is standing trial before Judge John McDonald and a jury on eight charges relating to a 14-year-old girl.
Calder faces three charges that on or about January 24 last year, in the Baylys Beach area, he sexually violated a girl by unlawful sexual connection.
Each charge also has an alternative of having sexual connection with the girl.
Calder is also charged with raping the girl on or about the same date, and this charge also has an alternative of having sexual connection with the teenager.
Opening the Crown case, prosecutor Peter Magee said that on January 24 last year, Calder picked up the two 14-year-old girls from Dargaville and took them to Baylys Beach.
On three separate occasions that day, Calder bought alcohol for the trio - using one of the girl's A" card - and both teenagers became drunk, with the alleged victim at one stage vomiting from her intoxication.
Mr Magee said the first alleged sexual violation occurred on a quad bike on Baylys Beach, and the other offences allegedly occurred in the bedroom of Calder's home there.
Defence lawyer Arthur Fairley said Calder's defence was that the sexual offending did not happen.
"The issue is that simple. She says it happened and he says it didn't and the issue here is has the Crown proved beyond reasonable doubt that it did."
- NORTHERN ADVOCATE
