The jury trial of a man charged with rape and other sexual related offending against a 15-year-old girl began in Rarotonga on Tuesday.

The man appeared in the High Court at Avarua, charged with two counts of rape, three counts of committing an indecent act and four charges of indecent assault, all of which allegedly took place in January and April last year.

The defendant cannot be named because doing so could identify the alleged victim. 

The court heard the complainant moved to Rarotonga in January 2021 and lived at the same property as the defendant.

In the prosecution's opening address, Crown lawyer Jamie Crawford said the complainant was in bed, in her room when the defendant first indecently assaulted her, after drinking alcohol in January.

Then in April, the accused raped the victim twice in her room after the night of his birthday party.

The victim was too scared to scream and the defendant was too strong to be pushed off, Crawford told the court.

The court heard, a friend of the victim saw she was not acting herself the day after the alleged rape.

At school the friend asked her what had happened.

It led to the eventual arrest of the defendant.

Consent did not apply as a defence in this case as the girl was underage, Crawford said.

Defence lawyer Norman George, who is representing the defendant, in his opening address said he would question the evidence in the case.  

“We will be driven to come at the truth of all these charges alleged against the defendant,” George said to the jury of seven men and five women.  

“We will start with the question, are these complaints true or not.

“The question is whether it is possible or impossible… it is the value and possibility of the evidence that we will pursue.”

George asked the jury to “utilise an abundance of caution at this trial”.

The crown witnesses that will be brought to the case include the complainant, two of the complainant's school friends, one of the school friend's mothers, a doctor who examined the complainant after the alleged incident, and the police officer in charge of the case.

The trial is set down for up to four days and his being heard by Chief Justice Sir Hugh Williams QC.