Paedophile teacher says he rejected young boy’s advances

A Hobart jury has heard more evidence from a convicted child sex offender, who says he rejected the sexual advances of a young boy he met on the beach.

A police officer leads convicted child sex offender Darrel George Harington out of the Supreme Court of Tasmania on Friday.

A CONVICTED paedophile teacher, speaking out under oath against fresh child sex allegations, claims he rejected the advances of a young boy in “tight shorts”.

Darrel George Harington, 68, gave evidence yesterday during a Supreme Court of Tasmania trial following accusations from two alleged victims – one from the late 1970s and the other from the late ’90s.

The former New Town High and Campania District School teacher said he met the second complainant at a beach while walking his dog Sasha in 1999.

Harington – who in 2015 pleaded guilty to eight counts of indecent assault and two counts of maintaining sexual relationships with young boys – told the jury the boy at the beach subsequently turned up at his front door.

He said he asked the boy in and the pair engaged in “general chit-chat” before the child, aged about 12, “exposed” himself.

“[I said] words to the effect of: ‘no, I don’t think so’,” Harington told the jury.

Harington denied ever having sexual contact with the boy, now in his 30s.

He also denied claims the pair were naked in bed when police arrived at Harington’s Lauderdale home – telling the jury they had only been talking and were sitting at a desk and a settee.

Convicted sex offender Darrel George Harington leave the supreme court in Hobart.

Under cross-examination from Crown prosecutor Jane Ansell, Harington said he had spent time with young people who were “never accepted for what they were”.

He agreed he previously confessed to molesting young boys, but also claimed he didn’t know the exact details of what he had confessed to during the 2015 court proceedings, partly because of his poor hearing.

“At that stage, I didn’t have hearing aids, the prosecutor spoke very, very quietly, and I did not hear most of what was said,” he said.

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But Ms Ansell said the two alleged victims in the current trial were “credible, reliable and honest” and that Harington wasn’t being truthful in his denials.

“This is Mr Harington moulding a story to cover a hole for the difficult situation he finds himself in,” she said in her closing address to the jury.

Defence lawyer Garth Stevens, in his closing address, said Harington wasn’t guilty of the current allegations, and also said the first complainant had confused the teacher with another man.

“Just because Mr Harington had a sexual interest in young boys, that does not mean he touched every young boy who came his way,” he said.

The trial will continue on Tuesday.

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