The man, who has interim name suppression, is facing historic abuse charges in relation to two boys, including several counts of indecency with a child and threatening to kill.<\/p>\n
He denies the offending. <\/p>\n
On Friday, a video interview between the defendant and investigating Detective Catherine Thompson was played to the jury at Auckland District Court.<\/p>\n
At one point, she referenced the man\u2019s description of himself as asexual and asked whether he found any women or people attractive.<\/p>\n
He pointed to a women\u2019s Phoenix player and a well-known female Kiwi golfer. <\/p>\n
\u201cThey\u2019re just great faces.\u201d<\/p>\n
The man then said if he were watching women\u2019s sports, he would watch the high jumpers because of their body shape, and said many female rugby players were \u201ctoo big\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou have the shape I like in women,\u201d he then said to the police officer.<\/p>\n
Later, he told her she also had a nice face shape.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou know what I mean? There\u2019s something about the angularness of it.\u201d <\/p>\n
The ex-teacher agreed that he saw children\u2019s faces in the same way he saw the golfer he was attracted to.<\/p>\n
He then said children could have gorgeous faces, \u201cthat\u2019s the innocence I see\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cAny child is attractive. You see a kid on the street and you think, \u2018Wow, I wouldn\u2019t mind that as my child\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n
After this exchange, he referenced Thompson\u2019s appearance again.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou, for example, have a very photogenic face. That\u2019s the word, photogenic.\u201d<\/p>\n
He told her one of the complainants fabricated the allegations against him to obtain financial compensation.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was chosen [to make the claims about] because I hadn\u2019t gone out and got married again.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m not gay, I\u2019m not gay in any way.\u201d <\/p>\n
On why the other complainant would have made a report against him, the man said he had no idea.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt just seems strange.\u201d<\/p>\n
He told the interviewer: \u201cThere is no way I would do anything inappropriate to any kids.\u201d <\/p>\n
However, the teacher admitted on several occasions to having conducted photo sessions with one of the boys. <\/p>\n
At the time, he said he viewed the photos he took of the boy as \u201cartistic\u201d, but later thought \u201cpeople might view it the wrong way\u201d.<\/p>\n
One beach session involved the boy with the area of his lower waist to his thighs covered in sand, and the rest of his body exposed, the man explained.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt didn\u2019t come out as I thought it might. Maybe because he was wearing shorts.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was an artistic idea.\u201d <\/p>\n
On two or three occasions, he said he took portrait shots of the boy, one in which the boy was shirtless.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was mainly interested in headshots.\u201d <\/p>\n
He told the court he showered with the boy twice to treat his nits. He said on one occasion the boy wore shorts, on the other occasion, the man said he asked the child to hold a cloth over himself.<\/p>\n
The ex-teacher also accepted having shared a bed with the boy but said it was because another bed was damaged and he claimed he created a squab barrier.<\/p>\n
He said in the interview he slept in the bed with each boy only one time.<\/p>\n
On whether he thought it was appropriate for him to stay in a bed with one of his students, he said, \u201cIt was on cold nights, and the bed was huge\u201d.<\/p>\n
Looking back on it, he said: \u201cIt was probably inappropriate, but nothing happened.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt doesn\u2019t look good how you\u2019ve shared a bed with a teenage boy,\u201d the detective told the ex-teacher during the video. <\/p>\n
Katie Harris is an Auckland-based journalist who covers issues such as sexual assault, workplace misconduct, media, crime and justice. She joined the Herald in 2020.<\/p>\n