Former teacher faces more sex charges

A former teacher, who sexually abused young boys over a 24-year period, has been sent back to prison for historic sex offending.

Derek Leslie Humphreys, 51, appeared in Hamilton District Court for sentencing yesterday after earlier pleading guilty to unlawful sexual connection and indecent assault.

The Waikato Times reported Humphreys, formerly of Palmerston North, had been jailed for eight years in June 2001, after admitting 19 charges of sex offences against 10 boys between 1976 and 2000 while he was a teacher.

Crown prosecutor Sheila Cameron said the latest charges related to offending against a 13-year-old boy at an end-of-year camp at Castlepoint Beach, near Masterton, in 1991.

She said the offending was premeditative and represented a major breach of trust.

Humphreys' lawyer, Michael Robb, said Humphreys was genuinely remorseful and offered no excuse for his offending.

He had taken active steps to address his offending and had changed his life to ensure he had no contact with youth.

Judge Robert Spear told Humphreys that he had achieved a great deal of popularity as a charismatic and successful teacher but "sadly there was a darker side to your involvement with your young charges at that intermediate school".

Humphreys, who was on parole after serving four years of his eight-year sentence, was sentenced to 12 months' imprisonment, to be served concurrently with his current sentence.

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