Lock abuser up forever, demands boy's mum

The mother of the latest boy sexually abused by serial paedophile Peter Douglas Liddell says he should never get out of prison.

"I hope they throw away the key," the woman said outside the High Court in Auckland yesterday after Liddell admitted violating her son.

Crown prosecutor Philip Hamlin said the new offending made Liddell a candidate for preventive detention when he was sentenced in six weeks.

Liddell, 58, is considered one of the country's most serious child sexual abusers.

The former Auckland Hospital Board social worker and King's College guidance counsellor was released in 1998 after serving four years of a seven-year sentence for sex crimes against four boys.

His 17 offences spanned 20 years.

Yesterday, Liddell pleaded guilty to sexual violation by unlawful sexual connection of a 15-year-old boy during an overnight stay on a fishing trip to Grahams Beach in late 2002.

According to a summary of facts handed to the court the boy "freaked out and remained frozen to the couch" as Liddell repeatedly told him "just let it go".

The boy's mother said that Liddell, who befriended her son, now 17, told her his name was Little.

She said she went to the police twice to make a check on Liddell, the first time giving officers the name "Little".

Her suspicions were aroused by Liddell's interest in boys her son's age and the apparent lack of women in his life.

When she discovered his true identity, she said, the police "could not get around there fast enough. They were really good".

She said that she had made her son aware of what was normal and warned him on the beach trip to "get the hell out of there" if anything happened.

Her son still suffered mood swings.

While he was the victim, she felt like one as well. It was "gut-wrenching" to hear the charge read out in court about what had happened to her boy.

The officer in charge of the case, Detective Sergeant Al Symonds, said that Liddell fitted the definition of the classic paedophile.

"He is a professional, practised, smooth sexual offender who selects his targets and is very professional in what he does.

"He has had a lot of years to practise and perfect his approach.

"But this time he chose the wrong target.

"[The victim] is a very brave young man who was prepared to stand up and say he was taken in but this is not going to happen to anyone else."

Mr Symonds said he found it hard to believe that this was an isolated incident.

If there were any other complainants, they should go to the police.

Justice Geoffrey Venning ordered two psychiatric or psychological reports for the sentencing hearing in August which will determine whether Liddell is sentenced to preventive detention.

He said that the defence, represented by Jonathan Wiles, might also want to obtain its own psychiatric report. Probation and victim-impact reports were also ordered.

The judge granted bail on humanitarian grounds although he said that Liddell was likely to receive a "substantial" jail term.

Liddell's 89-year-old mother suffered from senile dementia and Liddell was her sole caregiver. Mr Wiles said that alternative arrangements had to be made for her care and accommodation.

Liddell, who was effectively "under house arrest", had his reporting conditions varied to enable him to attend his psychiatric assessments and to see his lawyer unaccompanied.

But he must carry a letter confirming the appointments with him.

Mr Wiles told the judge that Liddell realised that a sentence of imprisonment was inevitable and he was under no illusion as to the outcome at the sentencing hearing.

He said a sentence of preventive detention would be strongly opposed.

Peter Liddell

A former British policeman, he has 17 convictions from 1993 and 1994 for sexual crimes against seven boys, carried out over 20 years when he was an Auckland Hospital Board social worker and guidance counsellor for King's College in Otahuhu.

There was a public outcry when he was released on parole in 1998 after serving four years of a seven years and nine months sentence.

He lived under supervision in Waiuku until 2002, when his parole period ended and he moved to Manurewa with another child sex offender. He also had a one-bedroom bach at Grahams Beach, Manukau Heads.

Although Manurewa residents were told of Liddell's move, the Grahams Beach community found out by accident after he bought a car from a local.

In June last year, the Weekend Herald reported that Child, Youth and Family were investigating sightings of Liddell with a boy at Grahams Beach.

Yesterday he admitted sexually violating a 15-year-old boy.