She also claimed that Parker abused Maori cultural traditions, like marae-style sleeping arrangements, to rationalise his letting pupils sleep in his bed, and even in his tent on school camps. A complaint was made to police, bit it was "never followed up properly," other than officers speaking to Parker in the school carpark.
The Northland Age understands that school declined to endorse renewal of Parker's teacher registration. It was then that he went to Pamapuria, re-registered and resumed teaching.
It was also revealed last week that Parker was investigated by the police, Child, Youth and Family and the Ministry of Education in 2009. Following that, police wrote a "strongly-worded" letter to the school, advising that Parker should not be allowed to have more pupils stay at his home.
Most of his offending occurred after that letter was sent.
Parker's lawyer, Alex Whitten-Hannah, said he believed Parker would have ceased offending had he been shown the letter. He had not in fact become aware if it until last month.
Principal Stephen Hovell had asked him to stop the pupil sleepovers, but his offending had appeared to escalate.
The police letter expressed the view that it was "clearly" inappropriate for a teacher to have young children visit outside school hours and to sleep at a teacher's home. It suggested that the practice cease immediately and that protocols be put in place to discourage it in the future.
Detective Inspector Karyn Malthus (Whangarei) confirmed last week that the police were now investigating claims that dated back several years. She would not be drawn on specifics, but confirmed that Parker and the pupils allegedly involved in earlier incidents had been interviewed, although no charges were laid.
"Children were interviewed at the time and the matter could not be substantiated," she said.
"Police reject any suggestion that we were responsible for any inaction. We took all steps within the law to make the appropriate notifications."
"Police did interview Parker and notified the school of their remaining concerns. We could not sustain any allegations and were therefore limited in what we could do. When further evidence came to light recently, charges were laid and a thorough and professional investigation was undertaken."
Detective Inspector Malthus urged any victims who had not been to the police to come forward.
Meanwhile Larry Forbes, who was appointed as a commissioner in place of the Pamapuria board of trustees on August 8, said the revelations about Parker's offending had come as a shock to the school.
"It was just a sense of disbelief that this could possibly be the case," he said.
Last week's guilty pleas and lifting of suppression orders meant the school could now move on, he said, adding that the school would conduct its own investigation, taking care not to compromise the police investigation.
The Teachers' Council has said it will await the completion of a full investigation before deciding if Parker will keep his registration.
Page 4 - Victims and villains. Page 8 - No Beast of Blenheim.
