Actor Rene Naufahu will wait until next year to be sentenced for indecent assault

Former Shortland Street actor Rene Naufahu appears in Auckland District Court on September 1 this year. Photo / Nick Reed

Former Shortland Street star Rene Naufahu will wait until next year to find out what his sentence will be for indecently assaulting women in his acting classes.

The 47-year-old actor in September pleaded guilty to six counts of indecent assault.

He was due to be sentenced on Friday, but Judge Robert Ronayne instead adjourned the matter to January 23.

"I take full responsibility for the need to adjourn this sentencing," Judge Ronayne told the Auckland District Court.

He said another judge had been scheduled to handle the case but was forced to step aside because a trial they were presiding over had run over time.

Consequently, he needed more time to consider Naufahu's case after picking up the file at short notice.

Naufahu in September changed his plea - days before he was scheduled to face trial - to guilty to six counts of indecent assault.

He had originally faced 17 charges, including indecent assault and sexual violation, over alleged offending against six women he was teaching acting between 2010 and 2013.

In a statement in September, Naufahu said the charges rose from "isolated conduct" with the students in one-on-one acting lessons and he was ashamed and disappointed.

"I accept now that I made errors and crossed boundaries that should not have been crossed. There has been a lot to confront and resolve. We have done that," he said.

Naufahu rose to fame starring as ambulance officer Sam in the original cast of Shortland Street, before moving on to act in the Power Rangers television series.

In 2006, he won best supporting actor for the film No.2 at the Air New Zealand Screen Awards.