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Allegations
of Sexual Abuse |
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A loud cheer from about
15 of his supporters greeted the verdicts, delivered at 12.40am after the
Hamilton District Court jury deliberated for more than 14 hours. Judge Lynton Laing told Dr Edgar to stand down from the dock and leave
the courtroom, and apologised to the jury for the reaction of the accused and
his supporters. Dr Edgar left the
courtroom to cheers of "Good on you, John" and "You
beauty". In the foyer, he was greeted with hugs, handshakes and tears. Parents of boys who
laid the complaints left visibly upset by the verdicts. Outside the courthouse,
Dr Edgar said he had endured six months of hell for something he did not do.
Flanked by his lawyers Roger Laybourn and Mark
Hammond, he said the decision vindicated him. While the jury's
verdicts were a victory for all male teachers, he warned men considering
teaching as a career not to choose it and those already in the profession to
get out. A teaching colleague
said after the verdict that most schools had students and parents capable of
"going overboard" with allegations. Teachers often talked about the
issue. He said Dr Edgar's
situation was especially sad because he had a reputation as a brilliant
teacher. Primary schools were desperate for male teachers because many
children from single-parent families had no significant male in their lives. He said Dr Edgar would
have had to be more careful when dealing with students because he was
homosexual. Dr Edgar, who has a
doctorate in history, described the police investigation as
"sloppy". He said police did not use the evidence of two witnesses
who would have cleared him. "(Police) . . .
interviewed a student teacher and a teacher at the school who were able to
show the allegations were false," he said. Police did not
interview other teachers who would have backed him up, he said. Allegations he had
abused students were made up by one group of children at the school. "They were just
the result of a group of children who knew each other . . . who made up stupid stories . . . it just developed some
sort of a nightmarish life of itself," he said. Detective Chief
Inspector Rex Miller defended police handling of the investigation, saying it
was conducted thoroughly and professionally. He said the Crown and
police were happy with the evidence from the children. "Had we doubted
them, we would not have taken them to court as witnesses," he said. A parent of one of the
children said he and his family were "gutted" by the jury's
decision. |
