19 May 2012

Sex offender teacher jailed four years

6:05 am on 19 May 2012

A convicted sex offender who used false documents to teach in six North Island primary schools has been sentenced to more than four years in jail.

Te Rito Henry Miki previously admitted charges of using false employment records and a forged birth certificate to get teaching jobs in schools since 2007, and breaching a supervision order.

The 41-year-old has more than 60 previous convictions including common assault in New Zealand and Australia, and three counts of indecent assault on a boy aged 12 to 16.

At the Auckland District Court on Friday, Judge Claire Ryan sentenced Miki to four years and six weeks in prison saying he caused distress and heartache to teachers, children and their parents.

She said it was only fortunate that he did not sexually offend.

Names of two schools Miki worked at were permanently suppressed on Thursday, along with an alias he used while teaching.