September 11, 2009

Man admits indecent acts on girl aged 13

A North Canterbury man?has admitted doing an indecent act on a 13-year-old girl by shaving and trimming her pubic hair.

The 43-year-old tractor driver is from a rural town and cannot be named because it would likely identify the victim of his offending.

He was in a relationship with the mother of the girl, and she referred to him as her stepfather.

The case had been heading for a jury trial, but Christchurch District Court Judge Michael Crosbie was told today that agreement had been reached in discussions this week.

The crown dropped a charge of sexual violation of the girl, and the man pleaded guilty to the charge of doing an indecent act.

Crown prosecutor Anna MacGougan said that on six occasions from July 2005 to February 2007 the man had used hairclippers to trim the girl?s pubic hair while she stood naked from the waist down.

He denied any wrongdoing, saying he had only done the trimming for hygiene purposes and had done it with the consent of the victim and her mother.

Defence counsel Simon Shamy said the crown and defence had agreed that a community-based sentence was likely because home detention was not available in the small community where the man lived.

He said the man had now completed a community work sentence for growing a class C drug.

Judge Crosbie remanded the man on bail for sentence on November 10 and called for appendices for community detention and home detention.