Friday, Dec 22, 2017
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THE INDEPENDENT VOICE OF MID CANTERBURY
Making Christmas extra special Salvation Army Food Bank Manager Judith Lilley with the Christmas hampers ready to be homed. FULL STORY
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IN TODAY’S GUARDIAN
PHOTO KATIE TODD 211217-KT-708
Mid Canty man guilty of rape A Mid Canterbury man has been found guilty of raping two young girls over a three-year period. The man, who cannot be named to protect the identities of the children, was found guilty by a jury in the Timaru District Court this week, following an eight-day trial. He has been remanded in custody for sentencing on March 2. The man denied six representative charges of sexual violation and the jury returned guilty verdicts on five. Jury members had heard how the man regularly raped the two young
girls, sometimes in their own beds. The victims said the offending happened before they went to school and one was bribed with money. Judge Joanna Maze said jury members had to consider if the children, aged between 6 and 10 at the time of the offending, were telling the truth or if they had been influenced by others. Crown prosecutor Andrew McRae called on DNA and medical experts and said in his closing address that the children had been convincing witnesses. He pointed again to the man’s DNA evidence found on electric blankets on
the girls’ beds which suggested the man had had sex with someone on both girls’ beds. Defence counsel Craig Ruane said the man stood by his explanation that he had had sex with his partner near the blankets while doing housework. There was no evidence elsewhere in the children’s bedding. A medical examination found one of the girls had HPV and genital wards. Ruane said that did not prove she had been sexually assaulted. The man had denied the charges from the outset, he said.
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