A Fijian pastor living in New Zealand charged with a raft of child sex offences is set to go to trial.
Jone Conikeli, 41, appeared in the Hutt Valley District Court on Friday where Judge Peter Butler permitted him to continue on bail and ordered him to appear in Wellington District Court in March, ahead of a trial.
The pastor was arrested and charged in October in relation to alleged sexual offending against two young girls. One was under 12 and the other under 16 at the time.
He has pleaded not guilty to charges including rape, assault with intent to rape, and indecent assault.
Police confiscated his passport to prevent him returning to Fiji.
Conikeli is a pastor at the Wellington chapter of the Kingdom Ambassadors International Fellowship, a splinter group of the All Nations Christian Fellowship (ANCF), which originated in Fiji.
