An Auckland man who says he was sexually abused as a child is finally having his day in court, decades after he says he first spoke out about the alleged offending.
“I’ve spent my whole life thinking he’s going to get away with this,” he testified yesterday afternoon.
That complainant, now in his 40s, said he first alerted his family to the alleged sexual assaults decades ago, and initially reported it to police several years later in 2002. It wasn’t until after his second complaint in 2024 that the older male was arrested in relation to the allegations.
The man, a retired teacher with interim name suppression, is facing 10 historic abuse charges in relation to two victims, including unlawful sexual connection, indecency with a child and threatening to kill.
He denies the offending.
On Tuesday, the first of the complainants testified that he had been abused by his former teacher as a child growing up in Auckland several decades ago.
Yesterday, the second complainant said in a police interview played to an Auckland District Court jury that the alleged abuse “f***ed” his life.
“When I initially made the complaint [to police] I thought that would be enough, I thought ‘yay I’ve done what’s right, I can save heaps of other people from going through it’.
However, he said police sent him a letter after his 2002 complaint saying they would not investigate.
The complainant alleged the former teacher made him out to be “nuts” to his family and went out of his way to discredit him.
“He told me that if I told on him, I’d be the one in trouble,” he said in the 2024 police interview.
The complainant testified in court yesterday that he had “admired and trusted” the man he alleges went on to sexually abuse him.
He said he would stay at the man’s home every other weekend when he was between 10 and 13, and claims to have woken up to the ex-teacher sexually abusing him on one occasion.
“He’s just a dirty old c*** who abused me, I hate him.”
He also alleges the man touched him inappropriately in multiple ways and photographed him in compromising positions.
“It’s haunted me to this day, even now I don’t like being photographed.
“I’ve got no photographs in my home anymore, because I don’t do photos.”
The complainant said the alleged abuse had ruined his life.
“I don’t make friends easily, I never stay anywhere too long, I don’t trust people. I don’t trust the system anymore. It let me down.”
The man is scheduled to be cross-examined by the teacher’s defence team today.
Where to get help:
If it's an emergency and you feel that you or someone else is at risk, call 111.
If you've ever experienced sexual assault or abuse and need to talk to someone, contact Safe to Talk confidentially, any time 24/7:
• Call 0800 044 334.
• Text 4334.
• Email support@safetotalk.nz.
• For more info or to web-chat, visit safetotalk.nz.
• Survivor Experiences Service: 0800 456 090 (8.30am-4.30pm Monday-Friday) or text 8328. This service is for people abused in state, faith-based or other forms of care.
Alternatively contact your local police station – click here for a list.
If you have been sexually assaulted, remember it's not your fault.
