The former principal of Kaikohe Christian School sexually abused two pre-teen boys starting more than 40 years ago after telling them he "wanted to see if they were developing properly".
Raymond George Melrose, 69, pleaded guilty in the Whangarei District Court yesterday to one charge of indecently assaulting a boy between the age of 12 and 16, one of indecently assaulting a boy aged 9, one of doing an indecent act on a boy between 12 and 16, and one of inducing a boy between 12 and 16 to perform an indecent act.
The charges relate to two boys aged 9 and 11 when the abuse started and Melrose committed the offences between August 1968 and February 1975, when he was 23 years old and teaching outside Northland.
Two are representative charges which means the offences occurred on more than one occasion, and his victims cannot be certain of the dates and times Melrose offended against them.
Melrose was initially facing 13 charges, including four of sodomy with a male aged 12-16, three of indecent assault on a male aged 12-16, and one indecent assault on a boy under 12.