Alleged rape victim says prominent professional knew he was underage
by Jimmy Ellingham · RNZContent warning: This story contains discussion of sexual abuse of children.
A man who was 14 when he says he was raped by a prominent professional on trial for sexual abuse says the professional knew how young he was.
The man admits he blackmailed the prominent professional after their encounter and says the prominent professional dropped off cash to him while wearing gloves.
The man said he met the prominent professional, who is now middle aged and known as a leader in his community, through the NZDating website in 2007.
The prominent professional's name and any factors leading to his identity are suppressed.
The man said the prominent professional picked him up, took him to the professional's then-Manawatū house, gave him alcohol, then raped him, the Palmerston North District Court heard on Wednesday.
The prominent professional is on trial on 10 charges, including unlawful sexual connection with a young person, relating to the 2007 incident, and a separate encounter in March 2023.
The defence said in its opening statement that there was no sexual contact between the pair in the 2007 incident and the man was trying to extract money from the prominent professional.
In a police interview played to the court, recorded last year, the man admitted after their encounter he blackmailed the prominent professional for $1000, saying he would go to the police if it was not paid.
"He dropped that $1000 off to [the man's address]... and he was wearing gloves when he dropped this off," the man said.
He described how, on the night they met, the prominent professional had given him strong vodka drinks, and said he could not remember how the pair ended up in bed.
Once there he said the prominent professional raped him, despite the man telling him to stop, although there was some consensual activity in the encounter.
The man said he was injured in the encounter and visited a doctor in the following days.
He couldn't remember how he returned home on the night in 2007, he said.
"I felt yuck. I felt used...
"He raped me. That's what he did. He raped me. I said 'no' and he didn't stop."
The man said the prominent professional knew he was under the age of consent, and thought the pair had talked about that. The man acknowledged he said he was 18 in his NZDating profile.
When questioned by defence lawyer Steve Winter the man said it was "bullshit" that nothing happened between him and the prominent professional.
Police investigated in 2008 and the prominent professional was interviewed, but no charges were laid.
Former police detective Glen Jackson said it was decided a prosecution was unlikely to succeed, partly due to the credibility of the complainant.
Jackson interviewed the prominent professional at the time.
In a video played to the court, the prominent professional said until he picked up the then-14-year-old he believed he was 18.
"I picked him up. We just drove around and chatted. I thought maybe he needed help."
When pressed he admitted taking the boy back to his apartment, but was adamant nothing physical happened.
He said he knew what the situation looked like and that was why he paid the $1000, although he rejected a further approached from an associate of the boy for $20,000.
"I'm disappointed in the position I put myself in. I know what I didn't do, but part of the reason for paying that $1000 is because I realised that I had made mistakes. It was a way of, hopefully, getting rid of it."
The prominent professional said he was going through a hard time then, drinking and taking party pills.
He is also facing charges from a March 2023 incident when he met a 17-year-old on gay dating app Grindr and invited the teen to his house.
There, the teen said the prominent professional sexually assaulted him, before the teen managed to get away.
The defence says the prominent professional had a reasonable belief the encounter was consensual.
The trial, before Judge Stephanie Edwards, without a jury, continues.
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