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A North Shore school teacher accused of more than a dozen sexual assaults on young girls has been granted continued name suppression, despite police allegations his own mother has violated the court order.
The 29-year-old faces 12 charges of indecent assault and two of sexual violation against seven girls - all then under 16. The offending is understood to have ended in 2004, and the girls now range in age from 15 to 19.
The man is denying all the charges, but at a North Shore District Court depositions hearing yesterday he conceded through his lawyer, Gary Gotlieb, that he had a case to answer.
The accused was remanded on bail to a High Court call-over on March 7.
He was first granted name suppression in a decision issued last year, after defence counsel argued the likely effects of publication on the man's elderly mother.
However, police inquiries led to allegations that the man's mother was aware of her son's predicament and had spoken with her caregiver about it.
An affidavit from the caregiver, a nurse, was read to the court. In it, she said the mother had volunteered the information while having a cigarette.
Judge Lindsay Moore said the woman's conversation, if true, made it tough to maintain a name suppression order.
However, having not seen the previous order by Judge David Wilson, Judge Moore decided to extend name secrecy "until a future order of this or any other competent court".
"If your client's mother is blabbing the name around the community ... why should the press be prevented from publishing his name?"
