Moeaia Tuai during his trial at the High Court at Auckland. Photo: RNZ / Gill Bonnett
A jury has found Auckland man Moeaia Tuai guilty of slavery, and a string of sexual attacks on one of the slavery victims.
The 63-year-old has been on trial for the past month on 20 charges, including two charges of dealing in slaves.
The charges relate to a young man and a young woman who Tuai enslaved over different time periods from 2016 until last year.
He put them to work, restricted their movements and communication, and controlled their money, paying them little for their work. He threatened both with deportation if they spoke out.
Tuai was also found guilty of two counts of rape, eight indecent assaults, six sexual violations, and an assault.
The jury at the High Court in Auckland was told he treated the pair as if they were his property. He denied all the charges.
The jury took almost two days to reach their verdicts.
Tuai has been remanded in custody until his sentencing in February.
The 'very definition of slavery'
The Crown said Tuai kept their passports, bank cards and wages, forcing one to take out a loan.
Justice Wilkinson-Smith, summing up the case, said prosecutors alleged Tuai's actions were the 'very definition of slavery', in exercising rights of ownership over the complainants.
"It can include conduct such as restricting freedom of movement - where a person can go, restricting freedom of association - who they can spend time with, restricting freedom of communication - who they can contact and talk to, using actual or threatened violence for breach of rules, retaining income and denying access to money, threatening consequences such as deportation to ensure compliance, restricting access to education to maintain control.
"All of these things can be used to control a person in a way that is tantamount to possession."
Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero, a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
