A seemingly innocent call for help from a senior high student in the gymnasium toilets escalated into a chilling accusation of sexual assault and coercion against a 14-year-old girl.

“He pulled me into the bathroom and told me I have to do what he says,” the girl recounted in evidence at the senior student’s trial that began this week.

The student - whose name is suppressed - is now 20 years old and is on trial in the Whangārei District Court before Judge John McDonald on one charge each of strangulation, male assaults female, unlawful sexual connection of a 12-16-year-old and one charge of abducts for sex a 12-16-year-old.

In August 2021, the defendant and the complaint were students at a high school in Northland - that cannot be named - and after a sports activity, the then 14-year-old girl went to the gym to collect her bag before heading home.

While she was inside the building, the 18-year-old boy called out to her from the toilet cubicle indicating he needed some help. The girl went into the toilet to help and it is alleged the boy started demanding oral sex.

The young girl said she refused the boy's advances multiple times during the incident. Photo / 123rf

The girl refused but the boy is alleged to have persisted, groping and touching her then striking her with his hand several times across the head.

The Crown alleges he then placed his hands around her throat, applied pressure restricting her breathing and forced her to the ground.

As the girl continued to refuse to meet his demands, it is alleged he forced her to perform oral sex on him.

The girl confided in her friends over the coming days and made a statement to the police. In an evidential interview played to the jury this week, the girl described the events in the isolated school toilet.

She said after the act, she had to clean herself up as best she could and catch the bus home.

Lawyer for the accused, Martin Hislop, told the jury the incident did not happen.

“He didn’t pull her into the cubicle, he didn’t lock the door, he didn’t slap her, he didn’t hold her against her will and he did not make her do that act,” Hislop said.

The girl’s mother gave evidence on day two of the trial that the boy had sent explicit sexual messages via Instagram and Messenger to her daughter a year prior when she was only 13 years old.

When Crown lawyer Mike Smith asked her what were the messages like she became tearful and replied: “Disgusting”.

The mother, who often went through her daughter’s phone, said she texted the boy to stay away from her child.

“This is (suppressed) mum. You are over 16, you better not message my daughter again,” the text message said.

A friend of the mother gave evidence she had received a distressed call from the complainant’s mother and was shown the texts the boy had sent her.

“I’m 39 years old, I have never seen messages like that,” the friend told the court.

When questioned by Hislop about the possibility of the complainant deleting any messages she had sent, the friend responded that the messaging platforms would display ‘message unsent’ if such an action had taken place.

The trial is expected to close on Wednesday.

Shannon Pitman is a Whangārei based reporter for Open Justice covering courts in the Te Tai Tokerau region. She is of Ngāpuhi/ Ngāti Pūkenga descent and has worked in digital media for the past five years. She joined NZME in 2023.