A former Northland school principal has been jailed for two years and eight months for the sexual abuse of two brothers 40 years ago.
Raymond George Melrose, of Paihia, was sentenced in the Kaikohe District Court today on two representative charges of indecent assault, and one each of inducing a boy to do an indecent act, and performing an indecent act.
Two of the four charges were representative, meaning they were for multiple offences of the same type. The victims were aged 11-16 and 9-12 at the time.
The brothers were in court as their harrowing victim impact statements were read out. Judge Duncan Harvey described their statements, and the "awful burden" they had carried for 40 years, as "shattering".
Melrose was the principal of Kaikohe Christian School until about two years ago. The abuse occurred when he was living in Auckland. Although he was already a teacher they were not his students and the abuse did not take place at school but at a home, a workplace, in hospital and on a boat.