Children tell court of ‘strange man’

Press, 8 June 1989, Page 27

Children tell court of ‘strange man’

PA Auckland Two young girls this week told a court how they were woken by a strange man who entered their bedrooms during the night. They were giving evidence in the District Court at Otahuhu against Joseph Boyd Parker, who is facing 16 charges, including sexual violation by rape, sexual violation by unlawful sexual connection, indecent assault and aggravated assault. The charges relate to incidents in four different Mangere homes between March 9 and April 3. The two girls and their parents gave evidence against Parker, aged 49, on the first day of a preliminary hearing. All names and identifying dewere suppressed One of the young girls,

aged 10, said a man, who she identified as Parker, first came into her room on March 9 and lay down on her bed. "He said his name was Jason and he said he had asked my dad if he could stay.” The man stayed for a while before leaving quietly and the girl told her mother about the incident the next day. The man returned again about a week later, she said. This time she was woken by him patting her back and she began to scream. Her father ran into her room and the strange man ran away.

The family rang the police and stayed locked in a main bedroom until they arrived. They later discovered both the back door and the dining room windows had ftpen opened.

A girl, aged nine, described how she woke up one night to discover a man standing over her bed. ■ “I was frightened and I didn’t know who it was, so I went and faced against the wall and waited until the man walked around my room and then I had a little peek.” She saw the man come back towards her bed, where he began playing with some of her clothes. “I said, who’s there and what are you doing? The man replied, don’t worry, little girl.” He then left, closing the door behind him, she said. The girl immediately told her parents what had happened and, when they discovered the back door was open, the police were called. She identified the man as Parker.