Woman alleges she was coerced into sex
A Filipino migrant alleges she was blackmailed into having sex by a man who threatened to reveal naked photos he found on her laptop computer.
Liam James Purcell, 43, faces four charges at the four-day trial which began before Justice Cameron Mander in the High Court at Christchurch today.
Purcell denies two charges of having unlawful sexual connection with the woman – oral sex in both cases – knowing that she had been induced to consent by a threat. He also pleaded not guilty to two charges alleging that he blackmailed her for sex by threatening to disclose the intimate pictures.
The woman said she had recently arrived in Christchurch, with her partner, when her laptop broke down and she gave it to Purcell after they met on-line and he offered to fix it.
During their on-line exchanges, she had sent him a clothed picture of herself, and he had sent her a naked picture.
He said she would need to log in on the laptop, even though he had been given her password, she said.
When she did that, he told her she had been “naughty” and showed her naked photos on the laptop of her and her partner, and photos of some of her previous men friends naked.
He threatened to tell her partner that she had been sending her naked pictures to her friends, and he threatened to post them on-line. Her partner had known of the pictures of them both, but he had not known about the photos of previous friends, sent to her when she was free and single.
She alleged in court that Purcell then took her into a storeroom at the workplace where she said she felt “helpless and in danger”. He helped to undress her and then the first sexual connection took place. The other sex act took place next day.
“He said he would post my naked pictures on line, and I believed he would do that,” she said.
Defence counsel James Rapley told the jury that Purcell admitted that sexual activity took place but he said it was consensual. Both of them were in relationships at the time. Flirting and “sexual communications” had been happening between them on-line.
He told the jury to be careful in considering the evidence, to ensure that they set aside feelings of sympathy, prejudice or morality. “This is not a court of morals, but a court of laws.”
He said the key issues for the jury to consider would be consent, and credibility.
The trial is expected to finish on Thursday.
Category: News
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