Christopher Victor Todman, 73, appeared in the Dunedin District Court on Wednesday and was sentenced for offending against two young boys in the 1990s.
He was found guilty of three charges of indecent assault on boys under 12 following a judge-alone trial in December.
He has now racked up sexual convictions against 10 boys.
The charges stemmed from incidents in the 1990s when Todman was a piano teacher at John McGlashan College, the court heard at trial.
One complainant knew Todman through his involvement at church and stayed at his house.
The defendant groped him while applying ointment, in front of other boys who were also staying at the man’s home.
Todman was also found guilty of assaulting a second victim during piano lessons.
The defendant told him to sit on his lap, then pulled his bottom into his crotch area despite his resistance.
At trial, the victim told the court about the ‘‘indescribable terror’’ he felt during these incidents.
‘‘I was completely helpless ... he could just overpower me so easily.’’
While Todman denied all criminal allegations against him at trial, he did admit he had a sexual interest in young boys.
‘‘I guess they were just my world,’’ Todman said.
He said his interest in the boys was ‘‘not just sexual ... I considered them to be my friends as well’’.
He admitted to having groups of boys stay at his house and watching them undress and bathe together.
Yesterday, in a statement to the court, one victim said the impacts of Todman’s offending were ongoing.
He struggled to sleep, did not have good childhood memories and had ‘‘isolated himself from the world’’.
His mother detailed how her family had been ripped apart by the defendant’s behaviour.
‘‘It’s been a life sentence for all of us,’’ she said.
‘‘[My son] went off the rails.
‘‘It’s been harder and harder to connect with him. At times he hated me.’’
Crown prosecutor Craig Power called the crimes ‘‘brazen offending with others present’’.
A Probation report said Todman minimised his most recent offending and ‘‘his risk is difficult to assess’’ given the 30 years since his last offence.
Judge Hermann Retzlaff said Todman had been ‘‘straight up’’ about his troubling sexual tendencies.
‘‘I think without support he is at risk of reoffending,’’ the judge said.
‘‘Further rehabilitation won’t hurt.’’
Todman said he was sorry for his crimes and accepted he had betrayed the victims.
Judge Retzlaff said he had caused great harm to ‘‘vulnerable boys’’ who should have been safe with him.
‘‘You created an environment of offending by leading parents to ... put their trust in you,’’ he said.
‘‘The effects have been rippling and have been ongoing for many years.’’
The judge took into account the eight months the defendant had spent in custody on remand and seven months on electronically monitored bail and considered he had served the punitive element of a sentence.
Judge Retzlaff sentenced Todman to 18 months’ intensive supervision.
In 2024, Todman was jailed after a jury found him guilty of six charges of indecent assault against his 12-year-old piano student.
He started by touching the pupil’s leg, which progressed to pressing his face against his and later licking and nibbling the boy’s ear.
In 1994, Todman was jailed for two and a-half years after admitting he indecently assaulted six boys who came to him for piano lessons or stayed overnight at his house.
Todman remains on the Child Sex Offender Register because of his previous convictions.
