A convicted paedophile's appeal hearing has been postponed
for an unspecified period as lawyers from both sides try to
find videotapes of the witness interviews.
Bruce Benjamin Shepherd, 74, was found guilty in March 2006
on 20 of the 26 sex charges he faced against nine women and
girls.
In May 2006, he was jailed for 13 years for five charges of
rape, two of sexual violation by unlawful sexual connection,
11 of indecent assault and two of inducing girls to commit
indecent acts.
The abuse took place in Hawke's Bay, Wairarapa and Rotorua.
Shepherd maintained his innocence, saying the attacks never
took place.
The charges covered assaults over a 30-year-period, coming
from complaints by two women about offences when they were
children in the late 1970s, and by seven girls in 2003-2004.
Shepherd appeared before the Court of Appeal briefly today,
but was taken back to prison as his case was postponed until
the uncut, unedited copies of police interviews with
witnesses could be found and copied. His return to court
would be scheduled once the tapes had been found.
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