The lawyer of a man accused of raping an underage girl repeatedly over a four-year period says the girl’s allegations do not stack up.
The complainant had sent the defendant Facebook messages expressing her excitement about the prospect of going alone with him to Auckland to see a Taylor Swift concert in the midst of the alleged abuse, counsel John Westgate said yesterday.
"It does not make sense," he said.
His 53-year-old client, who has name suppression, is on trial before the Dunedin District Court after pleading not guilty to eight counts of rape, seven of sexual violation by unlawful sexual connection, four of sexual conduct with an under-16-year-old and one of supplying cannabis to a minor.
One of the unlawful sexual connections charges was dropped by the Crown at the end of the prosecution case yesterday.
Many of the charges are representative meaning the alleged sex offences happened on multiple occasions.
In her evidence, the teenage complainant said some of the abuse happened on trips away from Dunedin.
But Mr Westgate said the pop-concert getaway was all driven by her.
"This was not some cunning plot to isolate the complainant. It was nothing sinister at all," he said.
"[She] was not only happy to go but she was looking forward to it for quite some time."
Mr Westgate pointed to Facebook messages the teenager sent 50 days before the gig.
"Can’t wait ... should be good ... hell yes," she wrote.
But Crown prosecutor Craig Power said the woman was a "compelling witness" and urged the jury to convict the defendant on all charges.
"She talks about the emotional control the defendant exerted on her to make her carry out the acts he wanted," Mr Power said.
"She accepts she didn’t have to be held down forcefully.
"You don’t need to be for it to be sexual violation ...
"This is not a case where she provided full, voluntary, free and informed consent."
He pointed to evidence that showed the man had allegedly bought the young girl a sex toy, despite her young age.
One of the defendant’s former workmates said his colleague had told him about the purchase.
He also told the court the man had described the teen as being "‘hot’, or words to that effect".
However, Mr Westgate said the witness was unreliable and would have gone to the police had he heard of inappropriate sexual conduct.
"Roll [his evidence] up into a big ball and throw it away," Mr Westgate said.
During the trial defence counsel asked the girl why she complied with the man’s demands if the abuse was so harrowing.
"There are a lot of emotional, mental and psychological factors involved that you aren’t considering," the girl replied.
"My brain wasn’t thinking about things being abusive or incorrect at that time because I was a child," she said.
Mr Westgate said her evidence did not wash.
The defence counsel told the jury there were at least six people to whom she could have disclosed the sexual allegations.
Judge Michael Crosbie will sum up the case tomorrow before the jury of eight women and four men begin deliberations.