The man, who has interim name suppression, is on trial at the Timaru District Court this week, facing two charges of doing an indecent act on a young person, sexual violation by unlawful sexual connection, and indecent assault.
The charges relate to one complainant and are alleged to have occurred between 2014 and 2019.
Crown prosecutor Callum Mitchelmore told the jury today the pair had met through the defendant’s role working with youth.
Their families became close and the accused took on "somewhat of a mentoring role” with the boy.
In 2014, the defendant would sometimes pick him up for school on particularly cold or rainy Otago mornings.
The charge of doing an indecent act on a young person was a charge which represented multiple occasions where the defendant was alleged to have indecently assaulted the boy when picking him up for school, Mr Mitchelmore said.
The other charge of doing an indecent act related to a time when the boy visited the defendant for dinner and was groped, the court heard.
Later, the defendant and the complainant went on a trip, where the boy said the accused groped and later sexually violated him.
The allegations first came to police attention in 2023 when the complainant went to a station and told them he had been sexually assaulted.
In 2024, a phone call between the complainant and defendant was recorded.
The complainant brought up the alleged incidents with the accused before school.
The defendant said “it shouldn't have gone the way that it [did] young man” and that “he didn’t want any of it to happen”.
When the complainant brought up the alleged offending elsewhere, the defendant said: "That's one of the saddest things really, because that shouldn't have happened”.
In an interview with police, the defendant denied ever driving the boy to school, saying the allegations of indecency and sexual violation were "absolutely not true” and the complainant was “a bit of a story teller”.
Mr Mitchelmore warned the jury “this is a case that could likely trigger strong emotions” but they had to consider the evidence dispassionately.
Counsel Philip Hall, KC, said “this case stands or falls on [the complainant’s] word”, and suggested the jury would be left with doubt about whether what he said was true.
There would be questions about if the complainant was “prone to exaggeration” or “capable of indulging in fantasy”, Mr Hall said.
“In a nutshell, the complainant misinterpreted or misremembered what happened during his regular interactions with [the defendant]."
He reminded the jury that the defendant “emphatically denied” the allegations, and urged them to keep an open mind while listening to the evidence.
Judge Campbell Savage is presiding over the trial, expected to last three days.
The complainant will give evidence this afternoon.
