Former All Black found not guilty of child sex abuse charges

The former All Black accused of sexually abusing his own daughter has been found not guilty.

Robert Kururangi faced a seven day trial at the Manukau District Court before the jurors returned their verdicts on Tuesday.

The 66-year-old was found not guilty on charges of sexual violation and indecent assault that dated back to the 1990s.

His daughter, Emma-Jayne Kururangi, took the unusual step of asking the court to revoke the automatic name suppression granted to complainants in sexual assault cases.

The jury was out for just under three hours. The case has divided the Kururangi whanau who sat on opposite sides of the aisle in the public gallery to hear the verdicts come in.

Kururangi stood with his hands clasped in front of him and his mouth open as the jury foreman pronounced him not guilty on all seven charges.

Judge Karen Grau thanked the jurors for their time and told them they had heard some distressing matters in the case, and they could seek help through the Ministry of Justice.

Emma-Jayne wept in court and was embraced by supporters.

Judge Grau also addressed her and her whanau.

“I want to acknowledge you and your bravery, for coming to court and talking about these matters.”

Earlier, Judge Grau summed up the case to the jurors.

She told them they had to decide if Emma-Jayne’s memories of the abuse were accurate and reliable reports of what happened – or if she had come to believe the abuse had happened after being influenced as a child by her mother and later, as an adult, reading her mother’s diaries.

Emma-Jayne had earlier told the court that when she was between 5 and 8-years-old, her father would come into her room late at night and sexually abuse her in her bed.

Emma-Jayne’s mother, Yvonne Wilson, had told the court that she was so concerned for her children’s safety that she moved out of the family home at Ardmore to a house in Epsom without telling Kururangi.

When he discovered their whereabouts she took the children to Northern Ireland, where she is from.

But Wilson and the children were eventually forced to return to New Zealand. They would stay with Kururangi on alternate weekends.

Emma-Jayne had said in court the abuse continued at her father’s home in Karaka, which he shared with two other men.

“I don’t want it to be a secret any more, it’s not a dirty secret any more,” Emma-Jayne told the police.

“Everyone should be accountable for their actions, whether a father, or the Prime Minister, or a person walking down the street. You should have to face the consequences.

“I want some justice for the little girl who was abused by her father. I want to start healing and I want some closure.”

In his closing address, the Crown prosecutor, Aminiasi Kefu, said Emma-Jayne had reported the abuse to various people since she was 5-years-old. They included her mother, a psychologist, a social worker and, as a teenager, her younger brother.

Later, as an adult, Emma-Jayne told her uncle and Kururangi’s ex-partner before going to the police in 2020.

He said any inconsistencies in her statements were down to her inability to articulate the abuse as a 5-year-old.

Kefu said Emma-Jayne had gone to the police, not out of malice, but with a yearning to see her father held accountable and to obtain some kind of closure.

But giving evidence in his own defence, Kururangi said the abuse never happened.

Kururangi was asked by one of his lawyers, Nathan Batts, how the allegations had affected him.

“To me, it’s like death in jail. At my age and my health, for doing nothing wrong. It’s a pretty big price to pay.”

He said the children only came and stayed with him a handful of times after his marriage with their mother broke down.

“It’s very doubtful that I’d do something silly with my children when they just go and tell their mother… It’s not even in my DNA.”

In her closing address, Kururangi’s lawyer, Annabel Maxwell-Scott, said Emma-Jayne’s reporting of the abuse had been inconsistent over the years and that just because the allegations had been repeated, did not make them true.

She told the jurors that even though Emma-Jayne truly believes these things happened, the jurors needed to be sure the memories were accurate.

Maxwell-Scott pointed to the diaries of Emma-Jayne’s mother, Yvonne Wilson. The diaries document the messy marriage break-up and have been entered into evidence.

She said the diaries show Emma-Jayne’s mother thinking and that the mother’s beliefs about Kururangi during the messy split rubbed off on her daughter.

The diaries also played a part in Emma-Jayne coming forward as an adult, said Maxwell-Scott. The lawyer said Emma-Jayne read the diaries shortly before approaching the police in 2020, and they had coloured her memories.

Sexual Violence: Where to get help

• Rape Crisis 0800 88 33 00, click link for local helplines.

• Victim Support 0800 842 846.

• Safetalk text 4334, phone 0800 044 334 webchat safetotalk.nz or email [email protected].

• The Harbour Online support and information for people affected by sexual abuse.

• Women’s Refuge 0800 733 843

• Male Survivors Aotearoa Helplines across NZ, click to find out more (males only).

• If you or someone else is in immediate danger, call 111.

• If you or someone you know is in a dangerous situation, click the Shielded icon at the bottom of this website to contact Women’s Refuge in a safe and anonymous way without it being traced in your browser history. If you’re in our app, visit the mobile website here to access Shielded.