A former teacher who confessed to indecently assaulting an 11-year-old boy wants a clean slate so he can work in aged care. The Kiwi man, who is in his 50s, has applied for his historical offending to be hidden under the Criminal Records (Clean Slate) Act 2004 so he can embark on a new career. Today, the High Court at Auckland heard the man, whose identity is suppressed, had indecently assaulted a boy in 1986. A decade later he was convicted following a confession. Judge Lawrence Irwin Hinton declined the man’s application in the District Court. The law allows a person, in some circumstances, to withhold information from the public about their criminal convictions. Justice Mathew Downs heard the man’s appeal today. “Would you employ a person with a history for sexual offending?” Justice Downs asked. “The instinctive response is no.” The man’s lawyer, Dr Roderick Mulgan, argued if his client was not granted a clean slate “word would be all over the city” once he applied to work in the aged care industry.
