An 18-year-old who has admitted indecently assaulting a 12-year-old South Wairarapa girl has elected to stand trial as he defends a charge of sexually grooming the girl on the internet.
Kayne Storm McIntyre of Rotorua appeared before Judge Arthur Tompkins yesterday in Masterton District Court, where defence lawyer Ian Hard confirmed his client's not-guilty plea to the sexual grooming charge.
At an earlier appearance, McIntyre pleaded guilty to a charge of indecently assaulting the girl at Carterton on April 25.
Police alleged he had been chatting with the girl he met online six months earlier, arranging to meet her on Anzac Day, driving to Wairarapa from Rotorua and picking her up.
The girl's family alerted police when she was getting into an unknown car and an hour later McIntyre was stopped and arrested by police.
