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Allegations
of Sexual Abuse |
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He lost his job, his house, his
savings and, for a while, his good name. John Edgar talks to the Times'
Gordon Jon Thompson about six months in hell. -------------
Relieved
to be out of the cell he paces up and down the corridor, waiting. It's
dark, unnaturally quiet, the other prisoners left the court holding cells
hours ago. It's
getting near midnight, the jury has been out for more than 12 hours. He
wonders what it means. What could they be talking about? Is it good for me?
More pacing. Nothing to do but wait. He's
feeling confident, even managed a few hours sleep. Finally
word comes down. The jury has reached a verdict. It's 12.30am on Tuesday this
week, the most crucial moment of his life is just minutes away. Prison
guards rush to get ready, he quickly straightens his tie -- no one wants to
keep this judge waiting. Especially not now. Not after all this. He
walks up the stairs and waits again. Then he hears the call. "Place
John Timothy Edgar before the court." He
walks in, eyes focused on his supporters. The Hamilton District Court public
gallery is full despite the hour. The
past six months all come down to the next couple of minutes. He braces
himself in the dock. The
foreman of the jury stands. There
are eight charges of indecency: "Not guilty, not guilty, not guilty, not
guilty, not guilty, not guilty, not guilty. . ." Seven
down, one to go. He leans forward, clutching the dock. For
the final time the registrar asks: "On count eight how do you find the
defendant? Guilty or not guilty?" He
grabs the dock even harder. Time seems suspended. The tension is palpable. "Not
guilty." "YES,"
he yells as he turns smiling, thrusting his arms in the air. Two
days later ex-school teacher John Edgar, 38, is back in the comfort, if not
peace and quiet, of his parents' The
phone rings almost continuously, with his mother fielding calls from friends
and supporters. She jokes her son will have to take over the evening shift
because she has lost her voice. Looking
back to Tuesday night, John Edgar says he was far more relaxed than he should
have been as he waited for the trial verdicts. "When
I went down (to the cells), I felt really anxious but an hour later a sense
of calm came over me. "I
don't know if it was a survival mode I'd gone into or if I had a good feeling
about the verdicts." He
says what he has gone through since last November, when he was accused of
touching the genitals of several boys at He's
lost his job, his house and all his savings because seven young boys accused
him of touching them, sometimes in front of other school students and
teachers. You
can see he's still seething, it's there every time he says: "I'm not
bitter, but. . . " It's
there every time he talks about the allegations. And especially when he says:
"I hope that one day they realise what they have done was wrong and own
up to it. "I
don't think they can be confused about what they did." John
Edgar knew he could have gone to prison on the basis of what the seven boys
said. And
he was terrified: "From what I gather convicted child molesters are open
game in prison and I don't think I would do a very good job of physically
defending myself." He
is convinced some of his accusers got together and concocted their stories,
while another boy, he says, has a grudge against him. "Sure
allegations have to be checked out but some of them were wild stories." During
cross-examination, John Edgar's lawyer Roger Laybourn expertly exposed
inconsistencies in the boys' testimonies. One
boy said Edgar touched him while a female student teacher was also there. The
Roger
Laybourn, a veteran of high-profile murder trials, describes this trial as
the most demanding of his career. He knew it would be a difficult case to
defend because of the sheer numbers of complainants and because John Edgar
was a teacher in a position of trust. A
key part of the defence team's plan was John Edgar taking the stand to rebut
the children's evidence. Roger
Laybourn said Edgar was determined for the jury to hear from him and said he
performed well under the tough cross-examination of Crown Prosecutor David
Wilson, QC. John
Edgar, who describes himself as bisexual, believes his sexuality had
something to do with police motivation as they investigated. He
says police insisted on using the word homosexual during their investigations
but he prefers the term gay, which he says is much broader. "The
police searched my house and found an autobiography about an Aids activist.
So there you go, I must have been a paedophile." He
is in a relationship with a woman, but describes it as platonic. "In the
sense that I don't think it's very ethical to see the mother of some of the
pupils at the school (Hukanui Primary) but that doesn't apply any more I
suppose." Detective
Chief Inspector Rex Miller denies Edgar's sexuality had anything to do with
the way police handled the investigation. "We
didn't know about his sexuality until the inquiry had started. We have to
investigate every complaint regardless of the sexuality or position in life
of the accused." The
police believed the boys and did their job. The jury believed John Edgar.
That's what it came down to. But
as elated as John Edgar and his family are this week, there are several other
families who are devastated. They
believed their children, believed in them enough to put them through the
trauma of a trial and sophisticated cross-examination. One
father said it was so hard to tell his son he'd done everything right but in
the end the jury didn't believe him. Despite
all the family has been through, the last thing this father wants to do is
put his children off coming to him again with their concerns. He
left the courtroom on Tuesday morning angry. His wife was in tears. John
Edgar is quiet as he contemplates his future. The
case has cost him his savings and he's moved in with his parents because he
couldn't keep up the mortgage payments on his home. His
immediate plan is to relax. Even
though he hasn't worked since last November he hasn't been able to switch off
from the case. But
he has a couple of new ideas. You
would think he would run a mile from further publicity so what comes next is
a big surprise. He
wants to be an MP. It's
just a germ of an idea at the moment, he has no particular party in mind, no
particular year, but it's something he's always been interested in. Ironically,
the idea of having a public profile might have put him off before but not
now: "It can't get much worse than this." He
hasn't completely shunned teaching, either. His doctorate in history may
provide a way back though he's adamant he will not stand in a classroom of
children again. He
also has to deal with the issue of what people think of him. Despite his
acquittal he knows there are people living in the city where he was born and
raised who think he's guilty -- that where there's smoke there must be fire. But
John Edgar can deal with this. He's discovered in the past few months an
inner strength that had never been tested. It got him through, gave him
confidence as he waited 14 hours for the jury to decide his fate. He
has also attracted strong support from a group of parents and teachers of
Hukanui Primary. Mostly women, they were adamant John Edgar was a brilliant,
caring teacher -- not the Jeykll and Hyde character the Crown said he was. In
the foyer outside the courtroom on Tuesday morning the supporters savour
their victory. It is their victory too -- they have also been vindicated. They
hug, shake hands and cry. John
Edgar moves away from the celebrations seeking privacy for a moment to call a
close friend on a cellphone. Soon
he is moving towards the automatic doors that will lead him to freedom. With
the courthouse now dark behind him John Edgar steps into the huddle of light
from waiting media. His
arms go up. "YES."
--------------------
CAPTION:
John Edgar: "I'm not bitter, but..." DEFENCE
LAWYER Roger Laybourn, pictured, describes this trial as the most demanding
of his career. |
