James Parker report reveals over a decade of concerns

  • Breaking
  • 09/11/2012

By Amanda Gillies

Some 14 years before a school teacher pleaded guilty to multiple child sex offences, concerns had been raised about his interactions with young boys.

But no charges were laid against James Parker until years later, and now a report has revealed that the school where he's been working was alerted, but failed to act.

As early as 1998, Parker was known to have young children staying at his home, where he would shower and sleep with them. At least five people who taught in the region – three of them principals – knew about this behaviour.

The police also knew about it, but no charges were laid and no investigation was made. Parker was told by police he didn't look like a paedophile.

A year later, Parker was hired by Pamapuria School principal Stephen Hovell.

In 2009, concerns about Parker's behaviour were reported to Mr Hovell. A boy laid a complaint of indecent assault. Two other boys were identified.

But a report on Parker's employment and offences reveals the response from the board of trustees to police and Child, Youth and Family was “overly focused” on Parker’s own welfare.

“The principal limited details to the trustees," the report states. "Parker was not told to end or limit his out of school contact with children. There was no independent examination into the complaint. And no proper arrangements were made with the boys' parents about Parker's future involvement in their lives."

The report also revealed the principal at Parker’s previous school had serious reservations about him due to his behaviour around young boys. She did not support his application for registration. However Parker had also misled the Teacher Registration Board.

In August this year Parker pleaded guilty to 49 charges of offences against children at his school. He'll be sentenced next week.

Mr Hovell is on leave at the moment. He refused to be interviewed as part of the review, but his lawyer did request a copy of the report before it was made public. A school spokesman accepted there were major issues at the school and it was not a safe place for students, but they would now be implementing every recommendation.

3 News

source: newshub archive