WARNING: THIS ARTICLE CONTAINS GRAPHIC CONTENT
A West Auckland man who was acquitted three times since 1990 of violating young, drunk vulnerable men he befriended has now been jailed.
Glendene man Peter James Brooks, 53, was jailed for eight years after a jury found him guilty of "abhorrent" sexual offending against a 21-year-old man in 2016.
That verdict came after the victim - and the three complainants from previous trials - gave evidence about Brooks' predatory sexual offending.
Brooks was jailed by Judge Nevin Dawson in the Auckland District Court on Thursday following a trial in April.
The Herald can today reveal the details of that trial - including how three men Brooks was charged with violating in 1990, 1995 and 2013 were called to give evidence about what he allegedly did to them when they were teenagers.
Brooks was acquitted after trials for the alleged offending against those three men, but their evidence about encounters with him helped seal his fate.
In 2016 Brooks befriended a 21-year-old he met through his work.
The victim thought his older mate was a good bloke and trusted him.
The pair would hang out occasionally, and he never had reason to suspect Brooks' attention would turn sinister.
On July 3, 2016 the 21-year-old - a straight, single man - went out with friends in Auckland city.
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