August 15, 2013
Pamapuria sex predator locked away
Paedophile school teacher James Parker has been sentenced to preventative detention with a minimum imprisonment of seven years.
The former Pamapuria Primary school principal had pleaded guilty to 74 sex charges over relating to the abuse of 20 of his students between 1999 and 2012.
A large number of whānau from the far north community were at the High Court in Whangarei for the sentencing.
The 38-year-old Parker, whose parents are British, used his knowledge of te reo and kapa haka to work his way into a position of trust in the community.
The court heard that his offending intensified after he was spoken to by police in 2009, after boys from a kapa haka group complained about inappropriate touching.
Judge Paul Heath told Parker he had harmed the community to an unimaginable degree, and after hearing victim impact statements, he had reached a decision that society cannot be adequately protected from him.
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