Sunday Star Times
November 2 2008

Jury decides no indecent acts in hide-and-seek games
by Karen Arnold

The Invercargill man acquitted on charges of doing indecent acts on two former pupils says in hindsight, he was "stupid" to play the hide-and-seek games during which the children alleged they were molested.

Paul Conner walked free from the Invercargill District Court on Thursday, but his teaching career is in tatters and he's unsure whether he'll ever go back to the job he dedicated his working life to.

During his trial the court heard how Conner, 42, invited the boys on separate occasions to help out on his family farm on the outskirts of the city. He and his brother train greyhounds and Conner is the president of the Southland Greyhound Club.

He admitted he devised a hide-and- seek game which he played with the boys during breaks from work.

Conner concedes he had been stupid to play it. "I never, ever knew why male teachers wanted to leave the profession. I understand why now. I admittedly put myself in this position.

"Teachers are too scared. There's (occupational safety and health) and personal safety. What do you do?"

Conner told the Sunday Star-Times he believed that children should be aware of the world around them and wanted to give them as many new experiences as possible. "The joy of seeing kids achieving something for the first time."

He carefully planned all activities he led outside the classroom. "I thought I had done everything right. I never dreamed it would happen to me."

He said during the past 16 years he'd invited "eight or nine" children out to the property.

His former principal had known about the visits, Conner said.

He felt his cause hadn't been helped by the naivete he had shown during the first police interview.

Questions were asked during the trial about Conner's claim he didn't know what the missionary position was. The single man, who doesn't drink or smoke, told the Star-Times that, funny as it might sound, he genuinely did not know because he had no sexual experience. "I believe it's a marriage thing."

He said he had a religious upbringing and his Christian values were important to him. He is devastated that the most personal aspects of his life had been discussed: "It's your reputation and credibility on the line in the public arena."

Conner stood down from his position at New River Primary School following his arrest in October, although he's been on full pay since.

He hasn't heard from the principal or board of trustees since then and a teachers' union representative had told him staff had been instructed not to contact him. And they hadn't.

But although he's been cleared of the charges, Conner still faces a Teachers Council hearing: "The nightmare continues."