INDICTMENT REJECTED

Otago Daily Times, Issue 23556, 20 July 1938, Page 16

INDICTMENT REJECTED

INDECENT ASSAULT CHARGES FINDING BY GRAND JURY ... ' •“ A (Per United Press Association) AUCKLAND, July 19. ; The Grand Jury rejected the indictment of Clutha Nantes Mackenzie, director of the New Zealand Institute for the Blind, v on 10 charge:! of indecent assault on males. ’ He was committed for trial on these charges by Mr C. R. Orr .Walker, S.M., about two months ago. The charges were reviewed by Mr Justice Callan in the course of hin charge to the Grand Jury. After referring to a case in which a man was charged with five indecent assaults on boys, his Honor-said the other case of the same class was against a man who was director of an institution for the blind. The persons alleged to have been tampered with—there were eight of them—were all inmates or ex-in-mates of that institution. The accused was himself blind and the men concerned were also, to some extent at any rate, suffering from that disability. There were 10 counts and eight males were concerned. In respect of two of these men there were two different charges on two different dates. The dates of all the charges ranged over a considerable period—from September, 1933, to February last.. All but one of the offences were alleged to have occurred at the institute itself. ' !

All the acts alleged were of an indecent nature though the indecency was very slight, 1 continued his Honor. The ages of the men varied very much. The majority of them were quite mature and middleaged. There were two or three of them in their late teens—l 9or 20. £ This accused person had not made any statement so that the way the matter stood quite clearly was this; Assuming that they had the same evidence as he had seen, they had statements by these eight men of handlings which in their nature were prima facie indecent assaults, v and there would be statements they would make that these things happened. These were at the present moment completely uncontradicted and unexplained. .■ “It clearly presents itself to you as a case for a true bill,” said his Honor. The jury returned no bill. , «:■