Newstalk ZB
May 17 2004

Woodcock victims talk of being ostracised

Students at the schools where Alan Woodcock worked knew he was having sexual relationships with their classmates.

The 55-year-old has pleaded guilty to 21 charges of sexual assault at the Upper Hutt District Court today.

A summary of facts has revealed that victims who told their fellow students about their abuse were ostracised.

The summary describes how Woodcock preyed on his victims under the guise of music teacher or counselor at several schools in the lower North Island.

The victims tell of how Woodcock told them they were homosexual or threatened to cane them if they told on him.

Police dropped 13 of the 34 charges, including a sodomy charge, and Woodcock pleaded guilty to the remaining 21 charges of sexual assault or inducing an indecent act.

He had lived in England since the late 1980s before a High Court ruling ordered his extradition to New Zealand for trial.

He has been remanded into custody until he is sentenced on June 25.