A man, 41, was today charged with sexual violation and attempt to have unlawful sexual connection in the wake of an internet date which went wrong.
The man - whose name was suppressed by a judge - was also charged with possession of a prescription medicine when he appeared in Hamilton District Court today.
The man and woman met on the internet last November.
Detective Inspector Greg Nicholls of Waikato police said the pair had since been in phone, text and email contact and had intended to meet in person for the first time last Friday.
"They had plans to meet on Friday night which fell through, however subsequent to that we believe the man has gone to the woman's home where she became the victim of a sexual assault," he alleged.
Mr Nicholls said police urged people to take care when meeting with someone they had met over the internet, including meeting in a public place and telling someone where they were going.
A German tourist made headlines last month after travelling to New Zealand to stay with a Dunedin man she had met on the internet.
The woman, 36, struck up an online friendship with a man she believed was a 33-year-old PhD student from Dunedin in October.
When she arrived on February 8, she realised the unkempt, unemployed 54-year-old had lied about his identity.
When he refused to let her leave the house on her own or take her passport, she contacted a person she had met on her plane.
She was later rescued by police, who decided that the man would not be prosecuted.
