Just Standfirst. Photo: RNZ / Adam Burns
A former Gloriavale teacher who abused and assaulted more than a dozen children over "a number of decades" has been sentenced to four years imprisonment.
Just Standfast had pleaded guilty to several charges of sexual offending against 15 girls, aged between 5 and 16 in May
The 73-year-old also admitted five charges of assault with blunt weapons against five boys and a man.
Judge Quentin Hix handed the sentence down in the Greymouth District Court on Friday.
Upon arriving at court for the hearing, Standfast, who is now a wheelchair user, said he was "sorry" when asked questions by media.
Photo: RNZ / Adam Burns
Standfast was previously sentenced to six months' community detention and two years' intensive supervision in 2019 for indecently touching and kissing a 9-year-old student in 2012.
Former school principal at Gloriavale, Faithful Pilgrim, claimed Standfast was of "good character and fit to be a teacher" on an application form to renew his practising certificate in 2012 - months after he was told about the assault - and again in 2016.
Pilgrim was suspended from teaching for three months by the New Zealand Teachers Disciplinary Tribunal for serious misconduct and cannot work as a principal for three years.
More to come...
