A Taranaki man facing more than 50 sex charges spanning two decades has gone on trial in the High Court.
The Crown says Mr Nelson, centre, offended over 20 years across several regions. Photo: RNZ / Robin Martin
Nigel Allan Hauauru Nelson, 36, is accused of rape, indecent assault and unlawful sexual connection.
The Crown said the offending occurred between 1993 and 2015 across the Waikato, King Country and Taranaki regions.
The Hawera man has been accused of offending against 15 victims, most of them vulnerable boys and young men.
Many of them were assaulted while asleep or under the influence of alcohol, and others were duped into performing sexual acts with promises of money from a non-existent prostitution and pornography business, the Crown said.
Mr Nelson has pleaded guilty to two historical charges against a teenage girl, dating back to the 1990s in Otorohanga.
He is defending the remaining charges.
Many of the allegations were fabricated, the sexual activity was consensual, and it was not clear if Mr Nelson knew the ages of all the young men, his defence said.
The trial before Justice Wylie is set down for five weeks in the High Court in New Plymouth
