A New Zealand soldier has pleaded guilty to four of the eight charges he is facing.
The young man, who has interim name suppression, is being trialled at a Court Martial at Linton Military Camp in Manawatū.
The alleged offending took place at an event held at the military camp's onsite bar on August 1, 2022, against three civilian women who were staff working there.
In her opening statement, Crown Prosecutor Lieutenant Letitia Smith said the soldier was drunk and "became intoxicated... the civilian bartender refused to serve him any more alcohol… she cut him off", she said.
The eight charges include five charges of indecent assault, two charges of intimidation, and one charge of insubordinate behaviour.
The accused appeared calm in court on Monday, as he sat between his lawyers with no family present to support him. He pleaded guilty to four charges of indecent assault, where he touched two of the staffers' bottoms twice.
"Private… again placed his hand around the back of the chair and squeezed her bottom… she stood up and left," said the Crown.
He pleaded not guilty to four other charges, including allegedly trying to touch a woman's groin, intimidating another woman, and yelling insults at a superior officer - calling him a "ball bag" and "motherf***er".
"His speech was slurred and hard to understand," said Smith.
However, the defence urged the court to listen to the witnesses before coming to a conclusion about what happened that night at the bar.
"What you've heard are just allegations. Not evidence. That's yet to be heard, at present he must be presumed innocent of all charges that he's pleaded not guilty to," said defence lawyer Matthew Hague.
The trial continues, with sentencing expected on Wednesday.
