Youth leader admits sex with boys 9, 10

Karl Hewitt, who joined St John as a cadet, was regarded as an 'excellent ambulance officer'. Photo / Supplied

An award-winning ambulance officer has been convicted of sexually molesting two young boys he mentored as a St John youth leader.

Karl Kevin Hewitt, 30, has pleaded guilty to three counts of indecent acts against children under the age of 12 and will be sentenced in the Auckland District Court next month.

Hewitt is a long-serving ambulance officer who had been awarded a service medal and was chosen to represent St John in an international competition when the charges were laid in September 2007.

However, St John staff was split when Hewitt was accused of molesting the two brothers, aged 9 and 10 at the time, that he mentored in the St John Penguin group. Their mother, a longserving St John volunteer, was ostracised by a group of her colleagues when she laid a complaint with police.

Court documents viewed by the Weekend Herald show that Hewitt was originally facing six charges, reduced to three counts in a plea-bargain last month.

The sex crimes were not committed during St John events, but that is how he met and befriended the boys and their mother.

Hewitt became a trusted friend of the woman, who was going through a marriage breakup, and the boys would stay the night with the ambulance officer on occasion.

He would buy them McDonald's takeaways, watch DVDs and let them play XBox video games - before sleeping in the same bed.

According to the court file, Hewitt touched the boys on separate occasions: the younger boy in July 2007, the older boy in September 2007.

Their mother found out only when the boys asked if Hewitt was gay. When she asked why, the boys told her what had happened.

Now 10 and 12, the brothers are having counselling and suffer from nightmares.

"They are fully aware that some of their associates do not believe them and are confused and hurt by this," the court documents say.

Stephen Franklin, general manager of St John Northern Region, confirmed that Hewitt was a serving ambulance officer in West Auckland at the time of the offending.

He joined as a cadet in 1994 and became a staff member in 2003.

He was suspended on full pay when charges were laid in September 2007, but resigned the night before he pleaded guilty last month. An internal inquiry found there was no connection between the ambulance service and Hewitt's crimes, said Mr Franklin.

"We are confident there is no evidence of offending during St John activities," said Mr Franklin.

However, the Weekend Herald understands the mother was confronted by other St John members who believed Hewitt was innocent.

In a written statement to police, St John staff adviser Andrew Slater said the boys' mother had been shunned by other staff members and volunteers.

"I was aware that [the victims' mother] had been shunned by a number of people in the community as a result of making a complaint which was really impacting on her and her family's life."

St John sources said Hewitt was previously considered a "St John lifer", a "lovely, personable, excellent ambulance officer" who was staunchly supported by up to a dozen colleagues.

"Now we've got a group of friends who are completely dumbfounded by the guilty plea who are having to deal with the fallout," the source said.

"Innocent people don't plead guilty and some of these stalwarts have now distanced themselves from their former best friend."

Detective Sergeant Megan Goldie, of the West Auckland child abuse team, said the breach of trust had been traumatic for the boys and their mother.

Despite the full co-operation of St John, she did not rule out the possibility that Hewitt had offended against other members of the youth programme.

The boys' mother declined to comment, but is likely to read a victim impact statement at the sentencing of Hewitt.

Hewitt is now living with his father and stepmother on the North Shore. He was not home when the Weekend Herald visited and did not return phone messages.

His father is a senior firefighter in Auckland and founded the Racing For Safety rally team, of which Karl Hewitt was a co-driver.

Karl Hewitt will be sentenced on July in the Auckland District Court.

The charges carry a maximum term of seven years' imprisonment.

DECISION ON NAMING DUE

A Court of Appeal decision is pending on whether a former ambulance officer convicted of indecently assaulting patients in the back of his vehicle can be named.

The 35-year-old former St John officer, who has interim name suppression, was found guilty in September by a jury at the Auckland District Court on six counts of indecent assault. Four charges related to a schoolgirl who had been injured in a car crash.

Two other charges related to two other women. He was found not guilty on four other indecent assault charges and one charge of sexual violation.

His lawyer, Judith Ablett Kerr, QC, appealed against the conviction and decision to lift name suppression.