MADLY MIXED MORALS

NZ Truth, Issue 946, 12 January 1924, Page 3

MADLY MIXED MORALS

Calorific Capers In A Christ- ,. :; church Crib Father's Frightful Offence. (From "Truth's" Christchurch Rep.) When a, family of six pack themselves into two sleeping rooms, some people -will say that house shortage "is the cause of the overcrowding. But, if father and . mother and baby occupy one of the two bedrooms and the other is allotted to a sixteen-year-old daughter and two brothers, one of whom is eighteen years of age, it stands* to reason that m that room where it is insisted that male and female " adolescence mingle with natural privacy at a minimum, something shocking is bound to happen. At anyrate, something shocking certainly did : .. happen m a Christchurch home (?) of the kind described and, although the matter is at present at a point where discussion of the situation, either morally or otherwise, is not permissible, the case is still one which offers a moral to people who are living, by choice or. compulsion, under similar circumstances. The case m point was that which was preliminarily heard before Justices m the Christchurch Police, Court last week; James . Augustus Olin, a middle-aged .-.man, was charged with incest,, regarding his daughter, a very pretty and-welUproportioned girl, who reached thfe.nge of sixteen last September. ■ OHh;>who is rather a weaklooking type" ;bf person, was not represented by cqimsel, but during the telling' of '"'his aa'ughter's awful story against him he frequently smiled and more than once ; > M ADE " INTERJECTIONS concerning, witnesses which he desired to call on his behalf.' Chief? Detective Cameron conducted the prosecution ' and. at his request, the Court was cleared during the hearing of evidence. • • : The girl gave her . evidence- clearly and without the hesitation and em-

barrassipent which is usual m cases of the sort. She told, the Court that she and the family lived at Methven until 1919 when they came to Christchurch and took possession of an unoccupied shop and dwelling m Victoria Street. There were four rooms m the place, the two downstairs rooms being used as kitchen and sittingroom and the upstairs roouns as bedrooms. Accused and his wife and the baby occupied one of the bedrooms and m the other..'room, witness had one bed and her two'brothers occupied another bed m the saiuq, room. On a night m April, 1921, accused came home about 6.30 and sent his wife and one of the children VTO THE PICTURES. ' This left witness, her brothers, the baby and accused at home. The boys went to bed and, after a while accused went upstairs and called to his daughter who' was m the kitchen, to come upstairs and look at the baby. When witness got to the top of the stairs, her father met her and asked her to give him a kiss. She refused, but he caught her and kissed her and afterwards took her into the room and committed an offence. Earlier m tno

evening', when witness and her -father were m the kitchen together he asked her her age and she answered that she \v>as fourteen. After the instance already stated accused repeated the "offence on several occasions overman, interval to -within a few weeks ago. More than once the offence was committed m the bedroom whilst the other children were asleep close by. Except on the first occasion witness made no 'serious objection to her father's conduct, although recently \ SHE HAD REFUSED to accede to his overtures, saying that she was not going to be a convenience to him. To that he replied that she would have to take her mother's place so far as he was concerned, any time that the mother was not at home. | Dr. T. L. Crooke gave evidence of having subjected the last witness to a medical examination last month. Her condition was consistent with an offence as .that described having been committed frequently.An eighteen -year-old son of the accused said that when he and his brother occupied the same room as their sister m Victoria Street, his father frequently came into their room. He came m one night and told the girl to go into the other room and attend to the baby. She said SHE WOULDN'T GO and he told her she would have to do so and thereupon he pulled the bed covering off her and she left the room. Witness, was asleep when she returned. On another occasion accused camejnto the room and witness saw him get into his sister's bed and stay there abVut two hours. The mother was" ii Way at the pictures on tha;t- occasion. Wit- [ ness suspected there was something | wrong. His father was; the^or^e^fpr liquor on both .occasions referred to. Detective N. W. Bayliss, said tha£ on. December'JJl he arrested the accused I at .his home oh the present-charge. When the charge was read to him ac- ■ cused ' said, "You'll "have to prove it." !• This concluded the evidence and accused, who pleaded, not guilty, was i committed to the Supremo Court for trial. Bail was not asked for. v; "