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A priest and former lawyer accused of child-sex charges has cleared his name in court but the Anglican Church says he will not yet be relicensed.
The University of Otago’s former pro-chancellor and ex-head of Knox College 75-year-old Bruce Alexander Aitken appeared before the Dunedin District Court yesterday where the Crown offered no evidence on charges of indecent assault of a boy under 12 and sexual violation by unlawful sexual connection.
Prosecutor James Collins did not elaborate on the decision to pull the charges and counsel Anne Stevens KC said she did not want to discuss in open court the contents of paperwork she had filed.
The allegations stemming from between 1993 and 1996 were dismissed by Judge Emma Parsons who stressed it represented an acquittal on all matters.
Once news of the allegations was published in 2024, the Anglican Diocese of Dunedin’s then Vicar-General Jan Clark said the defendant’s licence as an Anglican Priest had been suspended and a “safety plan” was in place.
Today, Bishop Anne van Gend acknowledged the acquittal in a statement to the Otago Daily Times but said it would not result in an immediate return to religious duties.
“The Anglican Church processes which run alongside such cases will need to be completed before the question of his relicensing is considered,” she said.
Aitken practised as a lawyer for 20 years before becoming master at Knox College - a university hall of residence he had previously attended as an undergraduate - in 1995.
It was during his 17-year tenure that he was made a companion of the Queen’s Service Order for services to education and music.
Aitken also had a lengthy association with Knox Church, as choirmaster and assistant organist, but his time at the helm of the college came to an abrupt end in 2012.
A commission appointed by the Presbyterian Church found alcohol was “a concern” and overhauled some of the longstanding traditions as well as tightening rules around drinking.
Aitken spent six months on paid leave before announcing his retirement.
While it was an exit which he said caused him some bitterness, he returned to Knox College in 2016 for the unveiling of his portrait.
Aitken called the painting of him donning a kilt a ‘‘frightening addition to the rogues’ gallery’’ of former college masters displayed in the college’s Great Hall.
He told those at the ceremonial gathering he was ‘‘still at a complete loss to understand why and how this all happened the way it did’’.