{"id":130040,"date":"2025-11-11T19:32:17","date_gmt":"2025-11-11T19:32:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/130040\/"},"modified":"2025-11-11T19:32:17","modified_gmt":"2025-11-11T19:32:17","slug":"sunlive-bop-teen-on-trial-charged-with-raping-young-girl","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/130040\/","title":{"rendered":"SunLive – BOP teen on trial charged with raping young girl"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Warning: This story deals with allegations of the sexual assault of a child and may be distressing.<\/p>\n

A primary-aged girl has described being sexually violated by a friend of her brother under a trampoline, behind bushes and in her bedroom.<\/p>\n

A teenage boy is on trial in the Youth Court at Tauranga, in a judge-alone trial before Judge Paul Geoghegan, where he denies the allegations.<\/p>\n

The boy, who cannot be named because of statutory suppressions, faces six charges \u2013 three of sexual violation by rape, one of sexual violation and two of indecent assault.<\/p>\n

The girl, who was 6 at the time of her evidential video interview, told the interviewer the boy would promise to give her lollies if she would let him \u201cput his penis in her \u2019gina\u201d.<\/p>\n

She described it happening on repeated occasions when he would come to visit her brother at their\u00a0Bay of Plenty<\/a>\u00a0home.<\/p>\n

\u2018Sometimes I\u2019d trick him,\u2019 says girl<\/p>\n

The girl said she and the boy would hide behind bushes or under the trampoline and he would sexually violate her as they stood in a hug embrace, while in a kneeling or \u201csquat\u201d position, or when they were seated on her bed and she was facing him.<\/p>\n

When asked to describe what amounted to mechanics, she said it was \u201ctoo tricky\u201d but later demonstrated using soft toys provided to her.<\/p>\n

She told the interviewer that \u201csometimes I\u2019d trick him \u2019cause I really don\u2019t wanna do it\u201d and would tell the boy she was \u201cbusting\u201d and needed to go to the toilet.<\/p>\n

He would be \u201cwaiting there and then he\u2019ll come back and look for me but then I\u2019d be like hiding somewhere\u201d.<\/p>\n

The girl also described them kissing like when you\u2019re \u201cmarried\u201d and the boy touching \u201cher privates\u201d over her clothing.<\/p>\n

She said the boy had told her to keep it a secret but she \u201cdidn\u2019t actually want to\u201d.<\/p>\n

The boy\u2019s lawyer Steve Franklin suggested the girl had made up the stories.<\/p>\n

He put to her, under cross-examination, a description of their height difference and the difference in the length of their legs when standing.<\/p>\n

She then said the boy \u201cwas on his knees\u201d and she stood when the violations behind the bushes happened.<\/p>\n

Franklin responded: \u201cThat\u2019s not what you told [the interviewer]\u201d, at which point the girl began to cry.<\/p>\n

After a brief break, the cross-examination continued, and the girl denied having made up stories about each sexual encounter.<\/p>\n

The girl said the reason she couldn\u2019t explain more detail about the specific mechanics of the alleged\u00a0sexual offences<\/a>, at the time of her evidential interview was that she \u201cdidn\u2019t really understand back then\u201d.<\/p>\n

Franklin asked her if someone else had touched her, but she said no.<\/p>\n

Mum says she \u2018caught\u2019 teenager in girl\u2019s room<\/p>\n

The cross-examination also included questions about the proximity of the girl\u2019s bedroom to the communal areas of the home, as well as the visibility of the trampoline.<\/p>\n

Under re-examination, the girl said the sexual violations only happened when the trampoline was away from the house, by some trees.<\/p>\n

The girl\u2019s mother gave evidence and said she had \u201ccaught\u201d the boy in her daughter\u2019s room about \u201cfour to six times\u201d and at least once she had told her daughter off for drawing on the boy\u2019s face.<\/p>\n

She said the blinds were down and the door was closed before she walked in.<\/p>\n

\u201cI look back now and think I was stupid,\u201d she said, but at the time she thought it was \u201cperfectly innocent\u201d.<\/p>\n

During her evidence, the mother said her daughter had started to become increasingly interested in human anatomy books and had also complained of discomfort around her genital area.<\/p>\n

The mother described other changes in her behaviour, including anxiety, which at the time she had put down to her starting school.<\/p>\n

She had also begun to exhibit some sexualised behaviour around men and, on one occasion, around her brother.<\/p>\n

At this point, the mother had enough concerns to talk to her daughter and in the course of the conversation explained to her about her \u201cprivate parts\u201d and that others shouldn\u2019t touch them, nor should she touch others.<\/p>\n

At this, she said her daughter\u2019s facial expression changed.<\/p>\n

The mother then asked her daughter if somebody had touched her. She said the girl replied yes and named the teenager.<\/p>\n

The mother said at first she \u201ccouldn\u2019t compute\u201d the disclosure and checked the girl was, in fact, referring to her son\u2019s friend.<\/p>\n

She had asked more questions and the girl had used sexual gestures that the mother thought a child wouldn\u2019t otherwise know.<\/p>\n

The mother had also tried to understand when the alleged incidents might have occurred based on things such as the timing of Christmas and birthdays.<\/p>\n

\u2018Extraordinarily risky\u2019 locations, defence lawyer suggests<\/p>\n

Under cross-examination, the mother was asked about the family\u2019s daily rhythms, activities and the house layout.<\/p>\n

It was put to her the girl\u2019s bedroom would have been a \u201crisky place\u201d for the boy to do what he\u2019s accused of because anyone could have walked in.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou would think so, wouldn\u2019t you?\u201d she replied.<\/p>\n

It was also put to her that given she moved around her property a lot, tending to animals, gardens and outdoor chores, she could have walked past the trampoline at any point.<\/p>\n

Again, Franklin suggested to her it was an \u201cextraordinarily risky\u201d location, to which she replied, \u201cobviously not\u201d.<\/p>\n

Under re-examination, the mother confirmed there were times when her daughter would be in the house or around the property unsupervised, while she was in her vegetable garden or doing chores.<\/p>\n

Franklin also questioned her about her daughter\u2019s interest in the anatomy books, one of which he described as a guide for children about how babies were made, which included descriptions of sex.<\/p>\n

He then asked her if her daughter was bright and curious and liked to learn, which the mother confirmed was the case.<\/p>\n

The trial before Judge Geoghegan continues.<\/p>\n

SEXUAL HARM

\nWhere to get help:

\nIf it’s an emergency and you feel that you or someone else is at risk, call 111.

\nIf you’ve ever experienced sexual assault or abuse and need to talk to someone, contact\u00a0Safe to Talk<\/a>\u00a0confidentially, any time 24\/7:

\n\u2022 Call 0800 044 334

\n\u2022 Text 4334

\n\u2022 Email support@safetotalk.nz

\n\u2022 For more info or to web chat visit\u00a0safetotalk.nz<\/a>

\nAlternatively contact your local police station –\u00a0click here for a list.<\/a>

\nIf you have been sexually assaulted, remember it’s not your fault.<\/p>\n

Hannah\u00a0Bartlett\u00a0is a Tauranga-based Open Justice reporter at NZME. She previously covered court and local government for the Nelson Mail, and before that was a radio reporter at Newstalk ZB.<\/p>\n

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