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WARNING: This story contains descriptions of sexual assault.
A fourth man charged over the prolific drugging and sexual assaults of women at a central Christchurch bar has been found not guilty.
The man was accused of sexually violating a woman after taking her home from the bar in August 2018.
But today, after a short trial in the Christchurch District Court, Judge Paul Mabey found him not guilty on the single charge.
He cannot be named yet because of ongoing suppression orders.
His case follows the almost three-month trial of three associates on a litany of charges of stupefying, raping and assaulting more than 20 women.
The offending was all linked to the same popular bar and a nearby restaurant.
In the first trial, Judge Mabey found two of the men guilty on almost 70 charges.
The third man denied multiple charges of sexual assault and stupefying and was acquitted on every count except one of offering to supply an illicit drug.
The second trial originally involved the three men from the earlier trial and the fourth man.
The fourth man had successfully argued to have the allegations against him - relating to just one female complainant - heard separately.
Last week, most of the charges against the other offenders were dropped - but one of the men convicted of rape admitted a charge of indecent assault.
During the two-day trial, Judge Mabey heard evidence from the victim about the violation.
She explained she had been drinking with a friend and was “fairly intoxicated” but “not terribly drunk”.
She was fully aware of everything that was happeninguntil she had her last drink at the bar.
“After that things become pretty hard to remember. I remember getting into a car with a guy,” she said.
“I don’t remember talking to him, I don’t remember meeting him but I remember getting into his car.”
She was taken to a suburban townhouse and had only flashes of memory.
“I remember lying on a couch. I didn’t have my jeans off… I don’t remember taking them off…. The guy that had taken me home had his hand between my legs,” she said.
“I felt like I could not control what I was doing. I remember getting taken upstairs... waking up the next day with the man who’d taken me home. I woke up to another man entering the room. He got into bed. He was starting to touch me, wanting to initiate something with me.
“I just remember saying ‘stop, get out’ - but not forcefully [because] I felt sedated, strange…”
While the convicted rapist admitted before the trial he had indecently assaulted the woman, his associate maintained he never touched her.
He did not dispute he was at the house at the time - but denied there was any sexual contact with the woman.
A woman at the house at the same time gave evidence in support of the offender, saying the assault “absolutely did not happen”.
“She was fine. She was friendly, she was coherent,” said the woman - the partner of one of the men involved in the first trial.
“I had no reason to worry. Her eyes were always open, she wasn’t lying down.
“If I had thought something was wrong I would not have left her there.”
he woman denied lying in court to protect the man and her partner - saying she was simply in court to share what happened that night.
During the short trial, Judge Mabey was also presented with messages between the offender and his associates about women in which theyreferred to women as “b***hes”, “sluts” and “just holes… and nothing more” and shared lewd details of their sexual desires and conquests.
At one point the man told his mates he had “a stripper coming over” to perform a sexual act on him and invited another man to “come over” and “f**k her together softly”.
The judge said the messages showed that the man and his mates were “unconcerned with whether consent was available or not” when it came to women they “used as they see fit”.
“[The offender] was indifferent to the consent of a woman,” Judge Mabey said in court.
In another message exchange between the man and his sister soon after they found out the sexual violation victim had complained to police and his associates had been spoken to, the man said it was “important” for him “to find out what they said exactly about that night”.
He said he had asked the others but their answers had been “very vague”.
His sister replied: “Well the story needs to be the same… otherwise it will be dodgy.”
The court heard that the man deleted a significant number of messages and apps when he learned police wanted to speak to him in relation to Operation Sinatra - the investigation into the bar and the now-convicted offenders.
Judge Mabey found the man not guilty of the charge.
He said he was not convinced beyond reasonable doubt that the assault happened.
However, he said the man was “not an innocent participant” to the bigger picture: the ongoing drink spiking and assault of numerous women at the bar.
“[The offender] was not blind to the fact drugs were available [at the bar] and [his associate] knew how to get them.”
As the judge’s decision was read and the verdict given, the man sat wringing his hands, rubbing his chin and shifting uncomfortably in his seat, his face drawn.
He was granted interim name suppression at the beginning of the trial and after delivering his verdict Judge Mabey continued the order.
He will hear arguments from the man for a permanent suppression order in the near future.
Sexual harm - do you need help?
If it’s an emergency and you feel that you or someone else is at risk, call 111.
If you’ve ever experienced sexual assault or abuse and need to talk to someone contact the
Safe to Talk confidential crisis helpline on:
Text 4334 and they will respond
Email support@safetotalk.nz
Visit https://safetotalk.nz/contact-us/ for an online chat
Alternatively, contact your local police station.
If you have been abused, remember it’s not your fault.