Napier court: Former principal admits further child sex crimes

Kevin Healy has pleaded guilty to further child abuse charges. He is pictured in 2020. Photo / Paul Taylor

A convicted child sex offender has admitted to further serious offences against boys while working as the principal of a Catholic school in Wellington in the 1970s and 1980s.

One victim was molested so many times by Kevin Peter John Healy that he lost count of the abuse, the summary of facts stated.

Healy, 82, formerly known as Brother Gordon, turned up late for his court appearance on Thursday at Napier District Court before entering guilty pleas to three historic child abuse charges.

The offences relate to three boys aged 12 and 13 who were abused during the late 1970s and early 1980s while attending a Wellington all-boys school.

Healy was the principal and a teacher at Marist Miramar School and also coached rugby and cricket at the school of the offending, the summary of facts stated.

Healy covered his face with an umbrella outside court on Thursday. Photo NZME

The offending included Healy molesting a victim in a pool changing shed, forcing a child to touch his genitals on a school camp, and lying naked on top of another victim during a sporting outing.

He was previously sentenced to home detention in June 2020 for separate historic child abuse offences, involving three children, which dated back to the 1970s in Wairarapa.

Healy sat hunched over in a chair at the back of the court room on Thursday as his pleas were accepted and he was convicted on the latest charges of indecently assaulting a boy under 16.

A sentence date has been set down for February 11, 2022.

His bail was continued by the court and he covered his face with an umbrella to avoid media attention as he walked out of the court house.