Muhammad Rizalman bin Ismail (39) was to have faced trial in the High Court at Wellington today, but admitted a charge of indecently assaulting Tania Billingsley.
Crown prosecutor Grant Burston offered no evidence on a charge of assault with intent to sexually violate Ms Billingsley, while a charge of burglary was dismissed.
Ms Billingsley waived her right to automatic name suppression last year.
As Rizalman stood in the dock this morning, a Malay interpreter helped him.
The Crown summary says about 6.30pm on May 9, 2014, Ms Billingsley, who was 21, was at her Brooklyn flat alone watching a movie on her laptop in her bedroom.
"Before entering the address, the defendant, Rizalman, removed his trousers and underwear.
"He walked through an unlocked door, took off his jacket and headed to Ms Billingsley's door.
"He spoke to the victim, saying, 'Can I come in?' The victim looked up from her bed and observed the defendant standing in the entranceway to the bedroom, wearing only a shirt and naked from the waist down," the summary says.
Ms Billingsley got up and began yelling and screaming for Rizalman to get out. He approached her and grabbed her shoulders and the pair struggled.
She managed to get him out of the room and out of the flat.
A flatmate's boyfriend, who lived nearby, came to help and arrived to see Rizalman standing by the front door.
"By this time he had put his trousers back on," the summary says.
Rizalman told police the pair had been to a cinema together. He claimed she invited him to her house but became angry when he ate her food.
Ms Billingsley suffered marks to her arms and "considerable emotional trauma".
Defence lawyer Donald Stevens, QC, said there was some dispute about the facts of the case, such as Ms Billingsley saying Rizalman put his hands to her throat.
"Mr Rizalman has accepted there was an indecent assault because he went into the house without his trousers and underpants on, which made it indecent," Dr Stevens said.
He also asked Justice David Collins not to enter a conviction today, to which the judge agreed.
Mr Burston said the Crown didn't accept Ms Billingsley touched Rizalman first, or suggestions Ms Billingsley wanted Rizalman to follow her home. The Crown also disputed that Rizalman was suffering from a significant mental illness at the time.
Rizalman left New Zealand after charges were laid but agreed to return in October last year.
Justice Collins bailed him until Friday for a hearing about disputed facts.
- By Jimmy Ellingham of NZME
