The stepdaughter of a man on 17 child abuse charges has been accused of making up the allegations in order please her mother, a court has heard. The man, who has name suppression, faces a jury trial this week before Judge David Robinson in the Dunedin District Court. The woman said the groping mainly happened when her siblings were not around and she only told her mother after her sister disclosed her own alleged abuse. Both stepdaughters said they feared for their own safety and the safety of their family, so they did what the man told them to do. Both were accused of "being swept up in a web of lies" and making false allegations to please their mother, the court heard.

Source: Otago Daily Times November 29, 2023 05:35 UTC