WARNING: This article discusses child sexual assault and may be distressing.

A woman who has accused her father of raping and sexually assaulting her during her childhood described urinating under a mat in her bedroom to avoid leaving her room to use the toilet and seeing him.

She said the alleged abuse that started when she was as young as 4 became so regular that she began to think “this is how he shows me what love is”.

The man, who has interim name suppression, appeared at the Christchurch District Court on Monday for the beginning of his trial which is set to last eight days.

He faces four charges of rape, seven of sexual violation by unlawful sexual connection and two of sexual conduct with a child under 12 years of age, alleged to have happened from 1993 to 2004. He strongly denies the alleged offending.

Prosecutor Cameron Stuart outlined the Crown’s case to the jury on Monday, stating the alleged abuse happened regularly and started when the two complainants, now adults, were as young as 4.

He said when the first complainant, the man’s daughter, grew up and had a daughter of her own, she finally went to the police to report what had allegedly happened to her.

Stuart said her younger cousin, the second complainant, was “in disbelief” when she heard about what the man’s daughter had alleged because of her “own similar experience” and she also went to the police.

On Monday the woman’s interview with police was played to the jury when she reported her father for the alleged assault when she was aged 4 to 13.

The man appeared at the Christchurch District Court before a jury and Judge David Ruth on sexual assault and rape charges. Photo / George Heard

The woman, who had four other siblings, described a sunny afternoon when she was about 4 playing in the garden with her siblings when her father called her inside to put a hat on.

She recalled being pulled to the ground and having her father pull her undies off underneath her dress and pulling his own pants down before touching her inappropriately.

The woman cried as she told the interviewer she tried to crawl towards the door, but her father wouldn’t release his “hard grip” on her.

“I was trying so hard to get away, I just wanted him to stop but he was holding me, telling me to be quiet.”

The woman said the alleged assault only stopped when her mother pulled up the driveway and she thought to herself “I’ve been saved”. She said her father then got up and acted like nothing had happened.

The woman also described the children being sent to their rooms for afternoon naps but said her father would take her into his room for her nap and allegedly rape her.

She described staying at her Nana’s house, a place she called her “safe space” as she was very close to her.

The woman sobbed as she told the interviewer about her father allegedly raping her on her Nana’s bed.

“I’d just lay there motionless”.

“As I got older, I knew it was coming. I didn’t fight it, I’d just do what he told me and then he’d leave me alone,” she told the interviewer.

The woman also spoke about her father standing in front of a mirror at her Nana’s house, so he was looking at himself and allegedly making her perform a sexual act on him. The woman thought she might have been 9 at the time.

“He always had one rule and that was no kissing on the mouth, he always said that’s the rule,” she said.

She told the interviewer about going to a motel with her parents and allegedly being raped by her father while her mother was having a shower, despite her “begging him to stop”.

The final memory the woman spoke about was when she was 13 and shaving her legs for the first time.

She said her father came into the bathroom while she was in there and started rubbing her legs, telling her she was a “big girl”.

She alleged he then raped her on the bathmat and told her that would be the last time.

“I remember thinking ‘had I done something wrong?’”

“I used to think to myself, this is how he loves me, this is how he shows me what love is,” she told the interviewer.

The woman compared the alleged assaults to a “business deal” stating once it was finished her father would get up and put his clothes on, tell her to put her clothes on and then leave.

The woman said she used to urinate under a mat in her bedroom, which then began to smell, as she was terrified of her father finding her awake if she were to get up to use the toilet.

The man’s lawyer Kerryn Beaton KC reminded the jury that while they may be shocked to hear what her client is accused of, they must keep an open mind as they are just allegations at this stage.

The jury will hear from a number of witnesses, including members of the man’s family and friends who were the first to hear about the alleged abuse.

The trial, before a jury and Judge David Ruth, continues.

SEXUAL HARM

Where to get help:
If it's an emergency and you feel that you or someone else is at risk, call 111.
If you've ever experienced sexual assault or abuse and need to talk to someone, contact Safe to Talk confidentially, any time 24/7:
• Call 0800 044 334
• Text 4334
• Email [email protected]
• For more info or to web chat visit safetotalk.nz
Alternatively contact your local police station - click here for a list.
If you have been sexually assaulted, remember it's not your fault.

Emily Moorhouse is a Christchurch-based Open Justice journalist at NZME. She joined NZME in 2022. Before that, she was at the Christchurch Star.

This story was originally published on the Herald, here