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Source: ONE News -
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A man charged with unlawful sexual connection with a child under 12 has reappeared in the Auckland District Court.
Court suppression orders mean all that can revealed about the man is that he is an Auckland comedian, but even that scant information has incensed the comedic community.
The prominent New Zealand comedian is charged with committing a sexual offence against a four-year-old.
His occupation title does not sit well with the comedic community, including Scott Blanks from the Classic Comedy Club.
"I can think of a number of different ways of describing him and certainly comedian is not high on the list," Blanks says.
Blanks has been in the comedy business for 15 years and has never worked with the accused. He is concerned that under suppression orders those he does work with are under scrutiny.
"There were people had to deny it was them, they were confronted, and there was a lot of conjecture on the internet as to who it might be, but when you name an occupation that has so few people working in it, or who can claim to be a prominent New Zealand comedian, you immediately create that level of inquiry," says Blanks.
A number of high profile comedians say they are angry the accused is being put in the same basket as them as he has never performed live, never does any stand-up and never tours either in New Zealand or overseas and the case had been bad for business.
"I know of once instance where a comedian was asked to sign an affidavit the day after the story broke saying he wasn't the person being charged and I've had a few calls from people who employ live comedy performers asking 'have I employed this person and do I need to be ready to deal with some fallout from that'," says comedian Michelle A'Court.
Blanks says is there is a chance of reviewing the name suppression rules, then it should be reviewed as to whether an occupation should be given out.
The accused entered no plea in court on Tuesday, was granted bail unopposed by police and will reappear next month.
Some variations were made to his bail conditions during Tuesday's court appearance and he has been ordered not to be in the company of children.
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