Fliers accuse innocent man of paedophilia

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A frail 81-year-old man has been falsely accused of being a paedophile in a malicious flier campaign.

The pensioner, a great-grandfather who recently suffered a stroke, was devastated by the allegations, his family said.

He and his wife, 73, were respected members of the Carterton community and were now living in fear. A relative is staying with the couple to protect them.

Police said yesterday they had never received a complaint about the man and the mail drop was malicious.

Hundreds of the fliers were found in two Carterton streets on Sunday. About 40 pamphlets were dropped in letter boxes. They read: "Beware, the following man is a confirmed paedophile." The name of the pensioner was printed in bold type.

A telephone call from a friend alerted the family to the leaflets. They spent hours picking them up and then burned each one.

One of the man's sons said he believed the leaflet drop indicated a vendetta against the family.

"We are staggered, we are angry, we are hurt and we are dumbfounded. Our father is not in good health and it is just wrong that something like this has been done against him.

"We have talked through this to death ... and not one of us can see why someone would have a vendetta against us," he said.

"If we could come up with a reason why someone is doing this then we can deal with it, but we have racked our brains and we have nothing. Dad can't even cope with thinking about what has been done."

Carterton Mayor Gary McPhee said the mail campaign was vicious.

"To do something like this to an elderly man with no history is a low blow."

Acting Senior Sergeant Carolyn Watson said police had not received any complaints against the man. He did not have convictions for the offending that was alleged.

"We are concerned about these fliers and the family are obviously distressed. We ask that anyone who knows who is responsible to come forward and, more importantly, we would like to speak to whoever has made these allegations."

- © Fairfax NZ News