Teacher admits assault

Owen Roper.

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A Waikato teacher lauded by students and colleagues for his "positive personality" has been convicted for two assaults on his children, one of which was clipping his son around the ears.

Te Aroha College teacher Owen Roper was yesterday convicted and discharged on two charges of assaulting his son and daughter.

His identity can now be revealed after Hamilton District Court Judge Peter Spiller declined an application to grant the 37-year-old permanent name suppression.

Roper said he was attempting to discipline his children on two occasions this year when he assaulted them.

In one incident Roper "clipped" his son around the head for having left his shoes at school.

In another he pushed his eight-year-old daughter on to a bed, causing her to fall off and hit her head.

Neither child suffered serious injuries.

Defence counsel David Venter yesterday said Roper's parenting style was focused on instilling discipline and "high standards" in his children. He had grown up in a home where physical discipline was normal.

Since the incidents, however, Roper had engaged in a parenting programme.

He had also entered early guilty pleas and acknowledged the need to adjust his attitude toward disciplining his children.

Mr Venter said Roper was highly regarded by colleagues and students who remarked on his positive personality.

Roper remained on good terms with his children. Both wanted contact with their father.

Mr Venter asked that Roper be discharged without conviction, citing the impact a conviction might have on his teaching career and ability to travel.

Roper was also a caring parent who, if not for recent legislative changes, would not have appeared in court, Mr Venter said.

Police prosecutor Baden Hilton said Roper's assault on his son had left the boy with a sore temple.

It was more than superficial clip around the ears, Mr Hilton said.

In sentencing, Judge Spiller declined to grant Roper a discharge without conviction, saying the two offences taken together could not be regarded at the lower end.

Both assaults were of significance to the victims.

The judge said he was not satisfied the consequences of a conviction would be out of proportion to Roper's offending.

He ordered him to pay court costs of $130.

- © Fairfax NZ News