A jury has found an Invercargill man guilty on 15 charges of sexual assault against two teenage girls and a young woman.
The jury at the Invercargill District Court went away on Thursday afternoon to deliberate and came back just after 11am on Friday with unanimous verdicts.
The 56-year-old, who still cannot be named, was convicted on 12 counts of doing an indecent act on a young person, two of indecent assault and assault with intent to commit sexual violation from 2021.
Earlier last week, the jury was shown a police video interview with the 14-year-old victim, in which she said the man groped her up to five times a week.
She said in December 2021, while drunk, the man took all his clothes off, climbed into her bed and molested her.
The second time, on Christmas Eve, she said he pushed her down on the bed, grabbed a blanket to cover her mouth and straddled her so she could not move.
The court heard he then touched her, pulled down his own pants and tried to remove her underwear.
But the girl was able to push him off.
"I felt like I was trapped, and I was in shock ... he had all this weight on top of me and he was holding me still."
The defendant said he would harm her if she told anyone what happened, she told police.
In court, defence counsel Scott Williamson said his client was a friendly "hugger" who liked to drink.
He said the second victim under 16, who told police the predator rubbed his hands over her body on two occasions, was uncomfortable with the man’s "physicality".
"She was perhaps overwhelmed by a drunk older guy who liked to hug people."
He suggested the affection had become a "story" later on.
In his closing argument, Mr Williamson also reminded the jury the defendant said he was nowhere near the address of the first complainant on December 24.
He referred to evidence given by two Crown witnesses the defendant had shown up at the girl’s home drunk on Christmas Day, while there was an unrelated court order barring him from the place.
This showed his client could not have been at the house on the nights the teen said he climbed into her bed, he said.
Crown prosecutor Mike Brownlie rejected the defence’s idea the three young women had colluded.
"[The defendant] claims that he is the victim of a witch hunt by these three girls.
"It beggars belief that all three girls would go to the police station with similar stories ... just nonsense."
The jury agreed.
The man was remanded in custody to be sentenced in May.
