{"id":372869,"date":"2026-04-10T11:37:10","date_gmt":"2026-04-10T11:37:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/372869\/"},"modified":"2026-04-10T11:37:10","modified_gmt":"2026-04-10T11:37:10","slug":"teacher-david-gregory-shaw-sentenced-for-indecent-acts-at-christchurch-swimming-pool-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/372869\/","title":{"rendered":"Teacher David Gregory Shaw sentenced for indecent acts at Christchurch swimming pool"},"content":{"rendered":"

First published on \"NZ<\/a><\/p>\n

\"Teacher<\/p>\n

\nTeacher David Gregory Shaw was caught committing indecent acts at the Dudley Park Aquatic Centre in Christchurch.
\nPhoto: Supplied \/ Open Justice\n<\/p>\n

WARNING: This story deals with the sexual exploitation of children.<\/p>\n

Angry parents have confronted teacher David Shaw, who masturbated in front of children in the changing rooms at a swimming pool, and spoken of the lasting impacts of his behaviour.<\/p>\n

“This incident has affected them. For us as parents, it has been unsettling, it has damaged our trust,” a mother told him in the Christchurch District Court.<\/p>\n

“Going to the public pool now carries anxiety. This incident has introduced a level of vigilance; we are constantly questioning whether our children can be left alone.”<\/p>\n

Shaw, 63, stood motionless as his sentencing hearing this week was disrupted at times by a distraught father in the public gallery.<\/p>\n

He called out Shaw as a sexual predator.<\/p>\n

The father stood alongside the mother of his son as she read a victim impact statement.<\/p>\n

“Our son is a caring 10-year-old boy. On the day of the incident, he and his best friend were having fun. In a single moment, you shattered that sense of normalcy. When you exposed yourself to them, you took away their innocence,” she said.<\/p>\n

“Nothing will ever return the innocence before that happened.<\/p>\n

“His friends and family have been affected. You took a part of our son we will never get back.<\/p>\n

\"David<\/p>\n

\nDavid Gregory Shaw was a teacher when he committed the indecent acts.
\nPhoto: Supplied \/ Open Justice\n<\/p>\n

“We do not want another child to go through what we went through. The harm you caused is real and lasting; you need help.”<\/p>\n

Another mother was too upset to address Shaw, so her impact statement was read by a police prosecutor.<\/p>\n

“My son is now 10; he used to love going to swimming pools.<\/p>\n

“Since this has happened, he has been clingy, angry and he has turned into a worried mess. I worry about his future.”<\/p>\n

Shaw faced multiple indecent act charges after two separate incidents at Dudley Park Aquatic Centre in Christchurch in July last year.<\/p>\n

The court heard that on 3 July, he was seen in the male changing rooms, standing naked near two boys, aged 10 and 13.<\/p>\n

The boys were getting changed and Shaw was applying what appeared to be moisturiser to his body, with one of his legs up on the changing room bench.<\/p>\n

A witness entered a shower and returned 10 minutes later to find Shaw in the same position, touching his penis.<\/p>\n

The witness made a noise, startling Shaw, who then got changed and left.<\/p>\n

On 27 July, Shaw was back at the pool where he followed two boys, aged 9 and 10, into the male changing rooms.<\/p>\n

A naked Shaw approached the boys and proceeded to masturbate while staring at them.<\/p>\n

A member of the public walked in and saw that Shaw was aroused and swaying his hips.<\/p>\n

The witness told him to stop and called for help.<\/p>\n

Shaw promptly got dressed and fled before staff could speak with him.<\/p>\n

After police were called, Shaw told officers he had applied cream to his lower body after swimming and had not masturbated or swayed his body in front of any children.<\/p>\n

However, in court, Shaw’s lawyer, James Rapley, KC, said his client had accepted responsibility, pleaded guilty and sought help.<\/p>\n

He said Shaw had resigned from his job, was remorseful and was a low risk of reoffending.<\/p>\n

Rapley said Shaw was a regular churchgoer.<\/p>\n

Judge Tony Couch said the offending was serious and had a long-lasting effect on the boys and their families.<\/p>\n

“Your offending is substantial. While there were brief periods of exposure, your conduct went well beyond that.<\/p>\n

“On each occasion, you were masturbating while watching [the boys], you were close to the boys. On the second occasion, you followed them; this suggests premeditation.”<\/p>\n

Of the mitigating factors, Judge Couch said that while Shaw was due credit for his guilty pleas, the amount was reduced because he delayed entering them.<\/p>\n

“By delaying your guilty pleas, you have left these victims anxious.”<\/p>\n

Shaw had made rehabilitative efforts since the offending, the judge said.<\/p>\n

“I do accept that through the treatment you have received so far, you have a far greater understanding that what you did was fundamentally wrong.”<\/p>\n

Judge Couch sentenced Shaw to six months of community detention and 15 months of intensive supervision.<\/p>\n

Where to get help:<\/p>\n

Need to Talk? Free call or text 1737 any time to speak to a trained counsellor, for any reason.<\/p>\n

Lifeline<\/a>: 0800 543 354 or text HELP to 4357.
\nSuicide Crisis Helpline: 0508 828 865 \/ 0508 TAUTOKO. This is a service for people who may be thinking about suicide, or those who are concerned about family or friends.<\/p>\n

Depression Helpline<\/a>: 0800 111 757 or text 4202.<\/p>\n

Samaritans<\/a>: 0800 726 666.<\/p>\n

Youthline<\/a>: 0800 376 633 or text 234 or email talk@youthline.co.nz.<\/p>\n

What’s Up<\/a>: 0800 WHATSUP \/ 0800 9428 787. This is free counselling for 5 to 19-year-olds.<\/p>\n

Asian Family Services<\/a>: 0800 862 342 or text 832. Languages spoken: Mandarin, Cantonese, Korean, Vietnamese, Thai, Japanese, Hindi, Gujarati, Marathi, and English.<\/p>\n

Rural Support Trust Helpline<\/a>: 0800 787 254.
\nHealthline: 0800 611 116.<\/p>\n

Rainbow Youth<\/a>: (09) 376 4155.<\/p>\n

OUTLine<\/a>: 0800 688 5463.<\/p>\n

Sexual Violence helplines<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"First published on Teacher David Gregory Shaw was caught committing indecent acts at the Dudley Park Aquatic Centre…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":372870,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[48,47,111,43,139,69,49,46,44,45],"class_list":{"0":"post-372869","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-zealand","8":"tag-audio","9":"tag-current-affairs","10":"tag-new-zealand","11":"tag-news","12":"tag-newzealand","13":"tag-nz","14":"tag-podcasts","15":"tag-public-radio","16":"tag-radio-new-zealand","17":"tag-rnz"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/372869","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=372869"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/372869\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/372870"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=372869"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=372869"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=372869"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}