Paedophile takes to witness box to deny fresh child sex claims

Convicted paedophile and former teacher Darrel George Harington has taken to the witness box to deny fresh child sex claims.

Convicted child sex offender Darrel George Harington has given evidence under oath at trial, fighting allegations from a further two alleged victims.

A CONVICTED child sex offender on trial in Hobart over fresh allegations has spoken out in his defence from the witness box.

Darrel George Harington, 68, denies molesting a 12-year-old boy during the 1970s and — decades later — the ongoing abuse of a young teen in the late 1990s.

The jury heard on Wednesday the former New Town High science and maths teacher pleaded guilty in 2015 to eight counts of indecent assault against several young boys during the 1970s.

But on Thursday, wearing a grey suit jacket and black-rimmed glasses, Harington gave evidence under oath during his trial — denying he had tried to involve the first alleged victim in a “masturbation game” at his Little Swanport property. He also denied he had brought the boy a television as a gift, only to be warned off by the child’s auntie. However, Harington admitted he’d sometimes brought boys up to stay over at his 242-acre East Coast property.

“Yes I did. It wasn’t a regular thing. Maybe there would be months between sessions,” he told the Supreme Court jury.

Harington’s evidence came after Crown prosecutor Jane Ansell tendered eight adult VHS pornographic videos to the court. Two police officers gave evidence that they had found the tapes when searching Harington’s Lauderdale home in 2013.

The second alleged victim, now in his 30s, said Harington would show him pornographic films as a child, and that they had sex in his shower.

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Another police officer, who cannot be named for legal reasons, told the court that in 1999, he found the second alleged victim — then aged 15 — in a darkened rear bedroom at Harington’s home. He said Harington let him inside after he’d spent about five minutes “vigorously” knocking on his front and back doors, before the officer was taken upstairs.

“When I entered the room, it was in darkness,” the Senior Constable said. “(The boy) was at the desk, sitting on the chair. I had a very short conversation with him. I do recall (the boy) was very quiet.” The Senior Constable agreed the boy said “nothing” when he asked what was going on.

“I asked him (Harington) why the boy was there and what was going on in the house. He said he was friends with the boy and had been for some time,” he told the jury.

Harington has denied two counts of indecent assault and one count of maintaining a sexual relationship with a person under 17. He will continue giving evidence today before Justice Michael Brett.

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