James Parker, deputy principal at Pamapuria School, just south of Kaitaia, pleaded guilty in court yesterday to 49 charges of sex offences against young boys.
But this morning, it has been revealed that the school was warned about Parker in 2009; Stuff reports:
SCHOOL WARNED IN 2009Most of Parker's sexual abuse against students occurred after police warned Pamapuria School that he should not have pupils staying at his house overnight, his lawyer Alex Witten-Hannah said.The school did "nothing constructive" about it, he said, and "the bulk of the offending took place after that".The police warning in 2009 came as a result of a tentative complaint from a child via a parent, he told Radio New Zealand.The lack of action from the school in the wake of the strongly-worded police letter was quite extraordinary, he said."It almost beggars belief. I had to see the letter with my own eyes to believe it."
This revelation really is quite extraordinary. Questions will now be asked, and legitimately so as to whether the school's apparent inaction facilitated Parker's ongoing offending against children who should have been able to trust him.
Perhaps that is why the school's Board of Trustees has been suspended and replaced by a commissioner, and the school's principal has gone on leave.
4 comments:
Some very good questions KS. I see he is not a " monster " according to the Herald headline which of course he is.
Why would you be surprised at the the lack of action that allowed these crimes to continue for so long?
We live in an age that protects people like this.
The school's "apparent inaction" would stem from a pathological fear, engendered by liberals, of breaching someones privacy or civil rights.
So the Police sent a "strongly worded letter". Give me strength! The letter was full of todays carefully chosen weasel words, such as 'inappropriate',unprofessional'
and God forbid, 'protocols!' What ever happened to wrong','criminal', or even 'perverted'.
Or why wasn't a large Police Sergeant knocking on this guy's door for a quiet word?
Might be construed as harrassment or breaching his civil rights, thats why.
So a letter to the school board was deemed enough action by the Police, who were responding to, and heres another cop-out, a 'tentative' complaint.
The School board probably discussed the letter and deemed it an 'employment matter' which would immediately invoke the privacy cloak.
Perhaps what was needed was a possee of shrill harridans like the group that put an innocent Peter Ellis away.
I absolutely agree he's a monster. And you know I can send my boys to the playground saying, "watch out for perverts", and I don't even have to explain what a pervert is. They just know. Pity the Kaitaia school board didn't warn the kids of the pervert they were alerted to.
And Heres what happens.
When a school decides to act on a perceived threat to child safety.
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