ACCUSED serial rapist John Hope Muchirahondo allegedly “helped himself” to women he met at parties or nights out “without consent or care” for 12 years.
The women were drunk or unconscious and some did not even know “sex” occurred until they were shown video or images of themselves with Muchirahondo by police. Muchirahondo, 38, is on trial in the High Court at Christchurch, New Zealand, before Justice Lisa Preston and a jury.
He has pleaded not guilty to 22 charges of rape, nine of sexual violation by unlawful sexual connection and one charge of failing to assist police with a search of his computer.
The charges relate to 15 women who were allegedly assaulted between 2009 and 2021. It is alleged he filmed many of the assaults he has been charged with.
Several of the charges against him are representative. This means police believe Muchirahondo has committed multiple offences of the same type in similar circumstances. On Monday, the Crown opened its case, outlining the allegations against Muchiranhondo in detail for the first time.
“He had sex with them at different stages of intoxication — including unconsciousness,” said Crown prosecutor Will Taffs. “Some didn’t even know sex occurred till later when videos or images were shown to them by the police. Some woke up and found [Muchirahondo] inside them as they went in and out of consciousness.”
Taffs said the jury would hear extensive details about the alleged offending, including accounts from each of the 15 women who made complaints to police. And, they will hear about “patterns and trends” in the alleged offending.
“What the Crown says happened on each occasion was that the defendant was helping himself to women’s bodies without consent or care,” said Taffs. He spent almost two hours summarising each of the 32 charges for the jury.
Muchirahondo listened from the dock, showing little reaction. The alleged serial rapist’s lawyer Anselm Williams also spoke to the jury on Monday. He said the jury would hear more from him after the Crown finished presenting its evidence.
But he wanted to address them early on behalf of Muchirahondo. Williams acknowledged his client was facing very serious charges, but reminded the jury that they had to approach their task without prejudice or emotion.
“Your role is not to judge [him] on moral grounds. You may not agree with the views that he expresses., the lifestyle that he leads.
“Your job is to decide this case on the evidence you hear… dispassionately.” Williams said Muchirahondo emigrated to New Zealand in 2008 when he was 22. “His father had 13 wives and he is one of 31 siblings,” he explained.
“He has a number of children with a number of different women here in New Zealand. “You will hear more on that, and more about him as a person as the trial progresses. You need to bear in mind that background… when you’re considering the allegations.”
Williams said his client had engaged in sexual acts with many of the complainants, but he said every engagement was “with consent”. “His defence is very simple,” he said.
“Muchirahondo has never engaged in sexual activity as the Crown has described where a person has not consented. “He has never committed rape and he has never committed any other offence amounting to sexual offending. That’s his defence.” Muchirahondo was arrested in February 2021 after he was accused of assaulting four women. —New Zealand Herald