A man on trial for having sex with a boy and girl after giving them alcohol admitted yesterday he lied in a police interview.
Grant Allan Selby and Bruce Franklin Charnley, both of New Plymouth, have denied charges including rape, sexual grooming and abduction on February 19, last year.
The offences are alleged to have happened after the two children, a boy aged 12 and a girl aged 15, went to Selby's home.
The trial is before Justice Heath in the High Court at New Plymouth.
In her opening address, Selby's lawyer, Kylie Pascoe, said he admitted he lied to police in a taped interview when he denied having any sexual contact with the pair.
"Today he's prepared to get up in that witness box and tell you what really happened that day," Pascoe said.
Giving evidence Selby told the court he had not told the truth to Detective Louise Prendergast because he had been scared.
"If my family knew what I've been up to they would have nothing to do with me and I had been naughty with two kids," Selby said.
He has admitted two alternative charges of having sexual intercourse with the girl and one of having oral sex with the boy, but said it had been consensual.
Selby was assessed by a doctor as having limited intellectual ability and a speech impediment due to brain damage from a lack of oxygen at birth.
Justice Heath dismissed two charges against both men and amended a further two to make Selby the principle offender and Charnley a party to the charges.
Charnley pleaded guilty to a charge of sexually grooming the girl after he took her to his place to meet another woman for sex.
Defence lawyer Paul Keegan said Charnley accepted he had no defence to the charge.
Keegan said Charnley maintained his not guilty pleas to the other charges, saying there was a complete lack of his DNA evident.
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