The Southland Times
October 25 2008

Boys badly behaved in classroom - accused

An Invercargill school teacher accused of doing indecent acts on two former pupils had excluded one of them from school privileges because of his behaviour in class, a jury was told yesterday.

Paul Alexander Conner, 42, is on trial in the Invercargill District Court on one charge of doing an indecent act on an 11-year-old boy and three charges of doing indecent acts on another, who at the times of the charges was aged between 11 and 13.

Conner told the jury yesterday both boys had behaved badly at times when he taught them at New River Primary School. He disciplined them in various ways. At one time he excluded one of the boys from activities outside class.

Under cross-examination, Conner said he had developed a good rapport with that boy by the time the boy worked occasionally on his farm during school holidays.

Conner agreed the other boy had told police he was ''cool'' at school. Conner said he had told the boys they could go to his farm if their behaviour improved. Both boys made significant improvement and, after consultation with their caregivers, one went to his farm five or six times during school holidays and the other went once. They were given work to do, mainly cleaning that had piled up because Conner was too busy to do it during the school term, and were paid for that work, he said.

The Crown alleges Conner played a slavery-type game with the boys at the farm and touched their private parts over their clothes and rubbed himself against them while they lay on a mat in a shed.

Conner has denied any slavery connotations to the game and said there was no inappropriate touching or rubbing against the boys. He said he did play a hide-and seek type of game with water pistols with the boys in midmorning breaks from work. During the game rope was slipped over the wrists to stop the captured person from producing another gun, he said. He denied anyone was tied up.

The trial, before Judge Kevin Phillips and a jury, is scheduled to continue on Tuesday.