Wellington teacher on trial for allegedly sexually abusing a boy gives evidence

A teacher is on trial in the Wellington District Court for the alleged sexual abuse of a boy. File photo / 123rf

WARNING: This story contains details of alleged sexual abuse

A teacher accused of sexually abusing a boy claims it was he who had made sexual advances on her and she had shut it down.

Today, the woman, whose name is suppressed, gave evidence in her trial at the Wellington District Court, where she is defending charges of sexually abusing the boy when he was as young as 12.

The complainant, now an adult, has alleged the teacher and family friend had sexually abused him in the early 2000s while he was babysitting her children at her house and sleeping over.

He has described alleged incidents of sexual intercourse, oral sex and sexual touching.

The woman, on trial before Judge Bill Hastings, is defending five counts of sexual violation by unlawful sexual connection and two counts of doing an indecent act on a young person.

In evidence, the woman denied the complainant babysat for her and that he ever slept at her house.

She said at the time she was living with her children and her father at a property in Wellington.

It is at this address that the complainant alleged the abuse occurred.

But she said the alleged offending could not have taken place as the man described it, because her father lived with her and was responsible for caring for her children and running the house.

Her father also would have seen or heard any alleged abuse, she claimed.

She claimed there was only one occasion of anything intimate occurring between the pair, and that was when the then-teenager had tried to kiss her as she stood in her kitchen.

The woman said she pushed him away with both hands and told him it was inappropriate.

That was the last time he’d visited her house, she said.

Several other witnesses also gave evidence for the defence, including the woman’s son and a parent whose children were at the school where the woman taught.

Both recalled the woman’s father living at the woman’s house and being a constant presence in their lives during the period the alleged abuse occurred.

The woman’s son told the court the complainant never babysat them and never stayed overnight.

The parent also couldn’t recall the complainant babysitting for the woman or any other parent.

Under cross-examination, Crown prosecutor Anselm Williams reminded the woman the complainant, his sister and mother had all testified that the complainant had babysat her children.

“So they are all wrong about that?” he asked.

“Correct,” the woman responded.

The woman also rejected a suggestion by the Crown that her father had not stayed at the house for the entire period of the alleged abuse.

“He wasn’t there every time you were there,” Williams suggested.

“Yes, he was,” she responded.

Williams challenged the woman’s account of the alleged kiss, asking why she hadn’t told his parents.

The woman said she thought she’d said enough, and she could see the complainant was embarrassed.

Because it was a personal matter, she said there was also no need to involve the school.

Williams also challenged the woman’s son’s evidence, questioning its reliability, given his young age at the time of the alleged offending.

“I suggest you don’t have a clear memory ... at all, do you?” Williams said.

“There were occasions when [the complainant] would spend time with you after school, times when he’d come to the house and times he stayed overnight.”

“No,” the son responded.

The trial closings are expected to be heard tomorrow.

Catherine Hutton is an Open Justice reporter, based in Wellington. She has worked as a journalist for 20 years, including at the Waikato Times and RNZ. Most recently she was working as a media adviser at the Ministry of Justice.