Former school principal jailed for almost a decade
Former school principal Michael William Hogan has been jailed for nine years three months for prolonged sexual offending against a boy.
The victim was not at the Christchurch District Court to see 54-year-old Hogan jailed, but his victim impact statement accused the former teacher of stealing his childhood with sex offending in Southland and Otago in the 1990s.
The victim’s statement records: “It was a living nightmare that no-one deserves to go through. I’m still living with the hurt and pain every day of my life.”
Hogan’s offending began when he was teaching at a small rural school, but he has since worked as a school principal. He was the principal at Prebbleton School, near Christchurch, in 2015.
Hogan had pleaded guilty to nine charges of sexual violation and one charge of indecent assault on a boy aged under 16. He has been in custody awaiting sentence since his guilty pleas.
Crown prosecutor Claire Boshier said it was serious offending involving every type of violation, over a period of five years, against a victim who was vulnerable because of his age.
The Crown urged that a minimum non-parole term be imposed as part of the jail term.
Defence counsel Steve Hembrow said Hogan was extremely distressed at the contents of the victim impact statement and accepted the harm he had caused. He had been committed to the teaching professional, and had given voluntary service to various professional bodies. He had been a “highly accomplished” teacher and headmaster. The offending had occurred at a low period of his life.
The offending had preyed on his mind every day. “Being apprehended has taken part of that out of his mind. He admitted it immediately,” Mr Hembrow said.
Hogan was now a man who had lost everything, he said. Hogan offered his unreserved apologies to the victim, his family, the teaching profession, and the community.
Judge Brian Callaghan said the offending from the time the boy was 13 was “harrowing to read about”. The victim had since been through ill-health and a nervous breakdown but now described himself as a successful businessman.
There was no suggestion of any other offending by Hogan with anyone else. He accepted that Hogan had been left thinking about what he had done every day of his life. Since the offending, his life had been “more or less a model one”, helping others. He displayed genuine remorse, and had sought counselling himself.
He jailed Hogan for nine years three months, without a non-parole term because he would be required to go through treatment before he was considered for release. Hogan would be registered as a child sex offender after his release from prison, imposing restrictions for the rest of his life.
The judge ordered him to pay $15,000 emotional harm reparations to the victim within six months.
Category: News
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