Third teacher accused of 'inappropriate incidents' at King's College in the 1990s

Monday, 16 October 2023

New allegations have emerged of a third teacher at King’s College being involved in “inappropriate incidents” with students in the early 1990s.

This comes after a former teacher at the prestigious Auckland school was convicted of historic child abuse offences in the UK.

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Paul Dodd, now 64-years-old, worked as a history teacher and rugby coach at King’s College between 1988 and 1994.

Dodd plead guilty to two counts of indecent assault and one count of child cruelty in relation to schoolboys aged between 10 and 12, at a trial in Gloucester Crown Court in July.

In an email to the school community seen by Stuff, the college said they had been told of allegations of “highly inappropriate incidents” involving another male teacher, who they were unable to name.

“Our current Board is deeply saddened about these events that occurred at the school three decades ago,” King’s College Board of Governors Chair Shan Wilson said.

“The current King's College Board of Governors believes the school failed at that time in its duty of care to these students and their families. We regret the impact on those students.

”For that, we sincerely apologise to all former students and their families. It is every student's right to be safe, and feel safe, at school,” Wilson said.

Wilson added that this third male teacher was not Peter Liddell, who is commonly referred to as one of New Zealand’s worst serial paedophiles.

“For clarity, this is not Mr Peter Liddell, a former counsellor at the school who was jailed for sexual abuse offences in 1994.”

King’s College said that since Dodd’s offending in the UK made headlines in September, they had been approached by “several former students and parents of former students”.

“They have related acts of abuse or voyeurism involving Mr Dodd during his time at King's that were completely unacceptable for a person in a position of trust,” Wilson said.

King’s College has approached the New Zealand Police and the organisation Child Matters, who they have asked to “independently review our current practices and ensure that we have every system in place to protect our students”.

“We are also taking advice whether there are any actions we may be able to initiate as a school to support former students raising past abuse by [Dodd] with the authorities in New Zealand and the UK.”

Dodd is currently serving a four-year prison sentence for his abuse in the UK.