NZ Herald
  • Home
  • Latest news
  • Herald NOW
  • Video
  • New Zealand
  • Sport
  • World
  • Business
  • Entertainment
  • Podcasts
  • Quizzes
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Travel
  • Viva
  • Weather

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • New Zealand
    • All New Zealand
    • Crime
    • Politics
    • Education
    • Open Justice
    • Scam Update
  • Herald NOW
  • On The Up
  • World
    • All World
    • Australia
    • Asia
    • UK
    • United States
    • Middle East
    • Europe
    • Pacific
  • Business
    • All Business
    • MarketsSharesCurrencyCommoditiesStock TakesCrypto
    • Markets with Madison
    • Media Insider
    • Business analysis
    • Personal financeKiwiSaverInterest ratesTaxInvestment
    • EconomyInflationGDPOfficial cash rateEmployment
    • Small business
    • Business reportsMood of the BoardroomProject AucklandSustainable business and financeCapital markets reportAgribusiness reportInfrastructure reportDynamic business
    • Deloitte Top 200 Awards
    • CompaniesAged CareAgribusinessAirlinesBanking and financeConstructionEnergyFreight and logisticsHealthcareManufacturingMedia and MarketingRetailTelecommunicationsTourism
  • Opinion
    • All Opinion
    • Analysis
    • Editorials
    • Business analysis
    • Premium opinion
    • Letters to the editor
  • Politics
  • Sport
    • All Sport
    • OlympicsParalympics
    • RugbySuper RugbyNPCAll BlacksBlack FernsRugby sevensSchool rugby
    • CricketBlack CapsWhite Ferns
    • Racing
    • NetballSilver Ferns
    • LeagueWarriorsNRL
    • FootballWellington PhoenixAuckland FCAll WhitesFootball FernsEnglish Premier League
    • GolfNZ Open
    • MotorsportFormula 1
    • Boxing
    • UFC
    • BasketballNBABreakersTall BlacksTall Ferns
    • Tennis
    • Cycling
    • Athletics
    • SailingAmerica's CupSailGP
    • Rowing
  • Lifestyle
    • All Lifestyle
    • Viva - Food, fashion & beauty
    • Society Insider
    • Royals
    • Sex & relationships
    • Food & drinkRecipesRecipe collectionsRestaurant reviewsRestaurant bookings
    • Health & wellbeing
    • Fashion & beauty
    • Pets & animals
    • The Selection - Shop the trendsShop fashionShop beautyShop entertainmentShop giftsShop home & living
    • Milford's Investing Place
  • Entertainment
    • All Entertainment
    • TV
    • MoviesMovie reviews
    • MusicMusic reviews
    • BooksBook reviews
    • Culture
    • ReviewsBook reviewsMovie reviewsMusic reviewsRestaurant reviews
  • Travel
    • All Travel
    • News
    • New ZealandNorthlandAucklandWellingtonCanterburyOtago / QueenstownNelson-TasmanBest NZ beaches
    • International travelAustraliaPacific IslandsEuropeUKUSAAfricaAsia
    • Rail holidays
    • Cruise holidays
    • Ski holidays
    • Luxury travel
    • Adventure travel
  • Kāhu Māori news
  • Environment
    • All Environment
    • Our Green Future
  • Talanoa Pacific news
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Property Insider
    • Interest rates tracker
    • Residential property listings
    • Commercial property listings
  • Health
  • Technology
    • All Technology
    • AI
    • Social media
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology
    • Opinion
    • Audio & podcasts
  • Weather forecasts
    • All Weather forecasts
    • Kaitaia
    • Whangārei
    • Dargaville
    • Auckland
    • Thames
    • Tauranga
    • Hamilton
    • Whakatāne
    • Rotorua
    • Tokoroa
    • Te Kuiti
    • Taumaranui
    • Taupō
    • Gisborne
    • New Plymouth
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Dannevirke
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Levin
    • Paraparaumu
    • Masterton
    • Wellington
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Blenheim
    • Westport
    • Reefton
    • Kaikōura
    • Greymouth
    • Hokitika
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
    • Wānaka
    • Oamaru
    • Queenstown
    • Dunedin
    • Gore
    • Invercargill
  • Meet the journalists
  • Promotions & competitions
  • OneRoof property listings
  • Driven car news

Puzzles & Quizzes

  • Puzzles
    • All Puzzles
    • Sudoku
    • Code Cracker
    • Crosswords
    • Cryptic crossword
    • Wordsearch
  • Quizzes
    • All Quizzes
    • Morning quiz
    • Afternoon quiz
    • Sports quiz

Regions

  • Northland
    • All Northland
    • Far North
    • Kaitaia
    • Kerikeri
    • Kaikohe
    • Bay of Islands
    • Whangarei
    • Dargaville
    • Kaipara
    • Mangawhai
  • Auckland
  • Waikato
    • All Waikato
    • Hamilton
    • Coromandel & Hauraki
    • Matamata & Piako
    • Cambridge
    • Te Awamutu
    • Tokoroa & South Waikato
    • Taupō & Tūrangi
  • Bay of Plenty
    • All Bay of Plenty
    • Katikati
    • Tauranga
    • Mount Maunganui
    • Pāpāmoa
    • Te Puke
    • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua
  • Hawke's Bay
    • All Hawke's Bay
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Havelock North
    • Central Hawke's Bay
    • Wairoa
  • Taranaki
    • All Taranaki
    • Stratford
    • New Plymouth
    • Hāwera
  • Manawatū - Whanganui
    • All Manawatū - Whanganui
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Manawatū
    • Tararua
    • Horowhenua
  • Wellington
    • All Wellington
    • Kapiti
    • Wairarapa
    • Upper Hutt
    • Lower Hutt
  • Nelson & Tasman
    • All Nelson & Tasman
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Tasman
  • Marlborough
  • West Coast
  • Canterbury
    • All Canterbury
    • Kaikōura
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
  • Otago
    • All Otago
    • Oamaru
    • Dunedin
    • Balclutha
    • Alexandra
    • Queenstown
    • Wanaka
  • Southland
    • All Southland
    • Invercargill
    • Gore
    • Stewart Island
  • Gisborne

Media

  • Video
    • All Video
    • NZ news video
    • Herald NOW
    • Business news video
    • Politics news video
    • Sport video
    • World news video
    • Lifestyle video
    • Entertainment video
    • Travel video
    • Markets with Madison
    • Kea Kids news
  • Podcasts
    • All Podcasts
    • The Front Page
    • On the Tiles
    • Ask me Anything
    • The Little Things
  • Cartoons
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / New Zealand

Under investigation: Top national sports coach probed by police after sex abuse allegations by teen girls

By Dylan Cleaver & Anna Leask
NZ Herald·
14 Aug, 2019 05:00 PM5 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

    Reminder, this is a Premium article and requires a subscription to read.

Police are investigating a top NZ sports coach after allegations were made that he sexually violated young girls. NZ Herald file photograph

Police are investigating a top NZ sports coach after allegations were made that he sexually violated young girls. NZ Herald file photograph

A high-profile national sports coach is under police investigation following allegations of sexual violations against young girls.

Members of the sporting community he has been part of for more than a decade have told the Herald they are angry he was allowed to coach age-group teams despite "lots of rumours" about his behaviour.

Until recently the man, who cannot be named yet for legal reasons, was contracted by a national sporting body to coach national age-group teams.

His wide-ranging CV also includes stints as coaches for several clubs in the upper North Island and a number of high schools, including a prominent girls-only college.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

A source confirmed the man was under investigation by police after a number of allegations were made.

The investigation is in the early stages and no charges have been laid.

Police refused to be drawn on the matter, saying they never commented or confirmed whether specific individuals were under investigation for privacy reasons.

The source said there were "quite a few potential complainants to talk to" and each person police approached had offered up further names of potential victims.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

The man was recently about to travel overseas as coach of a national teenage age-group boys team when he was stopped from boarding at the airport by the sporting body's chief.

The man's phone appeared to be disconnected and he did not respond to email requests for comment.

Discover more

Sport|rugby

'Unprecedented' sex crimes: Rugby coach jailed for 22 years

21 Feb 10:10 PM
New Zealand|education

Teachers behaving badly: Child educators struck off over sex crimes

10 Jul 05:00 PM
New Zealand|crime

Sex charges for entertainment industry veteran

01 Aug 12:04 AM
New Zealand|crime

Corrections wants strict tabs kept on recidivist child sex offender

06 Aug 11:37 PM

It is understood that an immediate suspension letter was drafted after a parent of a player the man had coached had complained to Crimestoppers and had threatened to go to the media.

"[The chief executive] then rushed out to the airport with the suspension notice and he was hauled off the trip," a source said.

The chief executive, who also cannot be named at this stage, told the Herald his organisation no longer employed or contracted the man.

He refused to say what the allegation was against the man but defended his organisation, saying they acted swiftly once allegations came to light.

A source said that allegations against the man had been common knowledge in his sporting community for some time and the organisation had taken too long to act.

"[The organisation] had some idea of what he was doing, but they basically tried to brush it under the carpet," the source said.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

"I'm really pissed off. They did know that there was some issue with him at least back in May if not years ago - they decided there was no evidence and they would carry on employing him."

The chief executive disputed that, saying his organisation worked swiftly and in accordance with fair and correct process, despite limited information available to them.

"A formal complaint was received by [the organisation] about one of its independent contractors at 2.15pm on 11 July, 2019, and the complainant said that they could provide evidence to back up their allegation," the chief executive said.

"[The organisation] had first been made aware of a potential issue on June 2, 2019.

"However, this was not substantiated by any complaint being lodged or evidence provided
despite several attempts by [the organisation] through the next month to obtain both of these."

After an internal investigation, which the chief executive said included "some evidence" to support the complaint, the man's contract was terminated on July 19.

"[The organisation] is committed to providing a safe environment for all its members and our prime concern is supporting our players, coaches and [the sport's] community," the chief executive said.

Another source said there was disappointment that certain clubs or schools did not share information about the coach with authorities when details started to emerge about the man's alleged inappropriate behaviour.

A senior administrator at one of the affected clubs – who cannot be identified to protect the identity of potential complainants - said she had recently contacted the man by text to see what was happening.

"He said, 'I'm done with [the sport]," she told the Herald.

"I asked him if that was club or country and he said 'both'."

The administrator of the Auckland-based club said "there had been lots of rumours going around" about the man, but she had not received any notices about inappropriate behaviour.

"Not that I'm aware of anyway," she said. "None of the managers I have spoken to have forwarded any complaints."

One source said he was "a bit weird" and tended to flit from one team to the next quite quickly, but maintained an influential position in the [the sport's] community.

"He wielded a lot of power and he should never have been in that position," the source said.

"Kids at that age idolise their coaches."

One source said girls at one club used to talk about how they did not want to get into the top team because he was the coach.

SEXUAL HARM - DO YOU NEED HELP?

If it's an emergency and you feel that you or someone else is at risk, call 111.​

If you've ever experienced sexual assault or abuse and need to talk to someone contact the Safe to Talk confidential crisis helpline on:

• Text 4334 and they will respond

• Email support@safetotalk.nz

• Visit https://safetotalk.nz/contact-us/ for an online chat

Alternatively contact your local police station - click here for a list.

If you have been abused, remember it's not your fault.

Save

    Share this article

    Reminder, this is a Premium article and requires a subscription to read.

Latest from New Zealand

Crime

Crown says murder victim removed knife from body, stabbed attacker before dying

07 Jul 01:23 AM
New Zealand

Controversial plan for future of Takapuna Golf Course confirmed

07 Jul 12:49 AM
Auckland

Covid-19 Inquiry: Kiwis detail crippling losses, lost schooling and farewelling dying family

07 Jul 12:38 AM

From early mornings to easy living

sponsored
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from New Zealand

Crown says murder victim removed knife from body, stabbed attacker before dying

Crown says murder victim removed knife from body, stabbed attacker before dying

07 Jul 01:23 AM

The defendant says he acted in self-defence against a home invader armed with a machete.

Controversial plan for future of Takapuna Golf Course confirmed

Controversial plan for future of Takapuna Golf Course confirmed

07 Jul 12:49 AM
Covid-19 Inquiry: Kiwis detail crippling losses, lost schooling and farewelling dying family

Covid-19 Inquiry: Kiwis detail crippling losses, lost schooling and farewelling dying family

07 Jul 12:38 AM
Church fire arson: Woman appears in court

Church fire arson: Woman appears in court

07 Jul 12:18 AM
Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky
sponsored

Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky

NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • NZ Herald e-editions
  • Daily puzzles & quizzes
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Subscribe to the NZ Herald newspaper
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • NZME Events
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP