School teacher in court on sexual abuse charges

A former teacher at a Catholic boys' school near Feilding appeared in Lower Hutt District Court today on sexual abuse charges.


The man, 66-year-old John Louis Stevenson, has been charged with six counts of indecent assault and one of inducing a boy to do an indecent act.


The offending is alleged to have occurred in the 1970s and 1980s while he was teaching at Hato Paora College.

The man has been remanded on bail until December 1.

His arrest came as part of an investigation by Upper Hutt police earlier this year which resulted in former brother Andrew Cody being jailed for 2-1/2 years for sexually abusing sick and vulnerable boys in his care at the same Catholic boys' school.

Cody, 67, who lived in Upper Hutt, pleaded guilty to two charges of indecent assault, one of doing an indecent act and one of permitting an indecent act to be done on him between 1981 and 1984.

Police would still like to hear from anyone who may have confidential information about sexual abuse at the college.

- NZPA