By TeKāhu 

A New Zealand judge has told a jury that 12-year-old children can consent to sexual intercourse with adults.

Tulisi Leiataua is a 45-year-old paedophile who was charged with abusing two girls for years. They were aged 8 and 12 at the start of the abuse.

He was charged with the following:

• 4 x Sexual violation (rape)
• 3 x Indecent act with a young person
• 1 x Indecent assault
• 10 x Sexual violation by unlawful sexual connection
• 7 x Other sexual violations
• 2 x Other assault on a child
• 6 x Indecent act on a child

However, according to Leiataua, the 12-year-old girl “pursued him” and “wanted it”; therefore, it was consensual and not rape.

I know she was a child but the way she came to me was like a mature woman.”

The defence also pushed hard with a little-known oddity of law: that while the age of consent is 16 years in New Zealand, sexual consent can still be used as a legal defence by those charged with raping children.

As the end of the case drew near, Judge Earwaker addressed the issue of sexual consent with a child under 16 years.

“Legally, a person under 16 cannot give consent for charges of indecent acts, therefore as a jury, all you need to decide is if the indecent acts took place.

But as for sexual intercourse, a person under 16 can give consent.” – Judge Earwaker

On Monday, Judge Earwaker closed the trial, urging the jury to stay utterly dispassionate when judging whether the Crown prosecution had proved its case or not.

It is not enough for the Crown to persuade you that he is most likely guilty; it needs to be beyond a reasonable doubt.”

HELP organisation was shocked by this loophole, stating that “Sexual behaviour between adults and children is always the responsibility of the adult, and children hold no blame for what is done to them” and that “some defence lawyers are insinuating that children as young as six years old have consented to sexual abuse by a grandparent.”

The sexual abuse survivors’ organisation has called for the following:

We urgently need to amend consent law in Aotearoa to clarify that children cannot be considered to have consented to sexual activity with an adult.”

In the end the jury decided that the evidence supported the victims and found Leiataua guilty of all charges

Sentencing will be advised later this month.