Leading showman trial: Prosecution witness says accuser never mentioned sexual assault, rape

A former friend of the complainant said a well-known entertainment personality was accused of raping a woman he was having an affair with and “buying her Chanel” after they fought.

The friend, a prosecutor’s witness in the trial of a man accused of sexually assaulting, raping and supplying the woman with drugs, told jurors her former friend never told her about the allegations.

The man is on trial in the Rotorua High Court facing 25 charges involving rape, sexual assault and drug-related offences. The allegations involved nine women.

Prosecutors accused the defendant of administering illegal drugs to some of the women before sexually assaulting them and using his position in the entertainment industry to get what he wanted from the women.

The defense said that while the accused admitted to using drugs and having sex with other women, that was the nature of the industry. He’s popular, doesn’t need to supply women with drugs and alcohol for sex, and this case is a “MeToo spree.”

The defendant has been temporarily anonymous, and some details and names of other persons involved in the case cannot be disclosed.

A prosecution witness yesterday gave evidence about the accuser, who is accused of twice indecently assaulting him, twice raping him and supplying methamphetamine and ecstasy.

The complainant had previously stated in court that she was terrified when a man climbs into her bed On work trips, how do they “Wild” event It later developed that he would “regularly” inject her with crystal meth.

Referring to the rape allegation, she said the sex with the man was non-consensual at the time, but she didn’t tell anyone she was raped or “issue a statement saying I was raped”.

During questioning by crown counsel Anna Pollett on Tuesday, crown witnesses said she had been good friends with the complainant, cared for her children, socialized with them and shared details of their relationship. secret.

Witnesses allege she also worked with the accused for a period of time and participated in events with him and the complainant and booked travel on his behalf from time to time.

The complainant appeared to be “very happy” with the incident, which the witness said she did not know about until later.

Witnesses said the accused helped the complainant pay her rent and allowed her to buy expensive items and it was clear they were “very enamored of each other”.

She also states that the complainant’s circumstances changed after she became pregnant and it was decided to terminate the pregnancy.

“She was very upset when they broke up and the defendant reconciled with his wife.”

During questioning by defense attorney Ron Mansfield KC, the witness said the defendant dealt with her in a gracious and “very respectful manner”.

The witness said she did not observe any inappropriate sexual or physical conduct by the defendant towards the complainant.

She said the complainant never told her about the sexual offense allegations. Witnesses said she was once seen smoking marijuana and cocaine.

The woman said the plaintiff and defendant had an on-again, off-again relationship, with “a lot of little altercations” but no physical altercations.

Witnesses said it was clear they “loved each other” when they were together.

However, she recalled that on one occasion, the defendant damaged the complainant’s expensive handbag because he believed she had had an affair with another man.

The plaintiff laughed it off and told her the defendant “just apologize by buying her a bigger and better car,” witnesses said.

Witnesses also stated that the complainant often showed off her expensive items paid for by the defendant.

She said she recalled apologizing to the complainant that her own boyfriend had bought her flowers, but that the complainant’s boyfriend “bought her Chanel.”

Mansfield asked the witnesses if it was fair to say that the defendant was “very attractive, very driven, good at building relationships with other people who enjoyed his company and very generous”.

Witnesses said that was a fair summary of his character. She said the defendant was a “very generous” person and was often asked by people, especially women, to buy them tickets to flights or entertainment events.

Witnesses said both men and women regularly tried to contact the accused to take part in the incident.

The witness stated that the complainant did not like the attention he received.

“Sometimes this leads to fights or arguments between them.”

The witness was also questioned about an event she, the accuser and the defendant attended, and where they ended up staying in his hotel room, which contained only a bed.

The witness stated that it was the complainant’s idea that she slept between her (the witness) and the accused and asked her to “keep it a secret and not tell her husband”.

“I didn’t know about them at the time, so I didn’t think there was anything unusual.”

Witnesses said that after the defendant left his wife, he planned to stay with the complainant, but ended up breaking up.

She said the complainant had since become “very estranged” from her and had “frequently attended parties”.

She also stated that the complainant clearly wanted the accused to leave his wife and live with her.

“Her ultimate goal is to be his wife,” she said.

The trial, now in its sixth week, is being conducted by Judge Ryan Harvey and a jury of nine women and three men.

Sandra Conchie is a senior reporter Bay of Plenty Times and rotorua daily mail He has been a reporter for 24 years. She primarily covers police, court and other judicial stories, as well as general news. She was the recipient of the Canon Media Awards Regional/Community Journalist of the Year.