A high-profile former Dunedin educator – locked up for sexually abusing a boy – has admitted crimes against a second child.<\/p>\n
Amadeo Enriquez Ballestero, 47, was known as “Mr Science” during his two decades working at Tuhura Otago Museum, often conducting explosive experiments for hordes of bewitched children.<\/p>\n
In July 2024, though, he was unmasked as a predatory sex offender, jailed for two years on an array of crimes against a young boy he first met through a school interest group.<\/p>\n
This week in the Dunedin District Court, Enriquez Ballestero – who appeared by video link from prison – pleaded guilty to two more charges of indecent assault and one of possessing objectionable publications.<\/p>\n
All three counts were representative, meaning they encompassed multiple indiscretions.<\/p>\n
Court documents revealed two months after his 2024 sentencing, an “associate” of Enriquez Ballestero arranged for several boxes of his personal items to be sent to Spain.<\/p>\n
They were collected from his Christchurch home for shipping but seized by Customs on October 21 that year.<\/p>\n
When officials found what they believed to be child-sexual-exploitation material, they called in police who had the laptop and seven hard drives forensically analysed by digital experts.<\/p>\n
Among the 153 objectionable images and 10 videos, there featured photos of a Dunedin boy from 2009 – evidence of Enriquez Ballestero\u2019s long-standing deviant interests.<\/p>\n
The court heard the defendant was a mentor on the “buddy programme” when he was paired with the vulnerable victim.<\/p>\n
Enriquez Ballestero quickly gained the trust of the boy\u2019s family and would initially see him on a weekly basis.<\/p>\n
For nearly two years, the defendant would collect the victim from school or home and take him to events or activities.<\/p>\n
He would splash out on gifts and sometimes “find an excuse” to see the boy more regularly; occasionally they would spend the night together.<\/p>\n
During that period, Enriquez Ballestero would “intimately stroke and touch” the pre-teen and “spooned” the victim as they shared a sleeping bag on one overnight trip.<\/p>\n
A Crown summary detailed how the defendant took photos of the boy naked in the bath and in bed, both when the victim was awake and asleep.<\/p>\n
When interviewed by police, Enriquez Ballestero accepted elements of his relationship with the boy were “inappropriate” but denied any sexual contact.<\/p>\n
He explained the naked photos were taken because he thought the victim was “cute”.<\/p>\n
“The defendant advised that he was always interested in the growth of children,” court documents said.<\/p>\n
The facts of the case mirrored his depraved acts more than 12 years later.<\/p>\n
At sentencing, the court heard Enriquez Ballestero abused that victim, who was a similar age, both at his home and on various South Island trips.<\/p>\n
He also recorded some of the crimes.<\/p>\n
Enriquez Ballestero admitted kissing, massaging and rubbing the boy\u2019s feet against his face, and told police he loved him – but denied his conduct was sexually motivated.<\/p>\n
The victim later told the court the ordeal left him feeling dirty and paranoid.<\/p>\n
“I have scrubbed my skin bloody many times,” he said.<\/p>\n
“You took my spark … I am so changed, so low, so dark. I battle daily to get my spark back and find who I am.”<\/p>\n
Enriquez Ballestero will remain behind bars until his sentencing in May.<\/p>\n
His counsel, Kirsten Gray, accepted her client would receive an extension to his prison sentence and thus did not request a home-detention assessment.<\/p>\n