"I’m so ashamed. I don’t understand it," said 70-year-old David Bond, who was jailed for 25 months before the Dunedin District Court yesterday.
He previously admitted 20 indecent assaults against seven victims from his time at Otago Boys’ High School between 2001 and 2011.
The ex-teacher, now living in Cromwell, has served two terms of home detention in the past eight years for historic sex offences that emerged since his retirement.
Counsel Anne Stevens QC argued home detention was again appropriate.
But Judge David Robinson said an electronically monitored sentence was out of the question.
A Probation report said Bond appeared "blase" about his crimes.
The defendant claimed he was not attracted to young men, was not homosexual and could not explain his motives.
The judge said the emotional impact on the victims could only be described as "severe" and many continued to be plagued by their historical trauma, causing ongoing issues in relationships with spouses and children.
Crown prosecutor Sarah McKenzie stressed the offending continued despite complaints to the school and "various internal investigations".
She told the court Bond purposely targeted younger children, a theme underscored by the victims’ statements.
"If we were just a few years older, we would’ve told someone what was happening," one ex-pupil said.
"I knew at the time what Mr Bond did was wrong but I let it slide," another said.
"I didn’t want to be that person that talked about it. I didn’t want to draw attention to myself."
Such was the scale of his crimes, the court summary of facts spanned 13 pages.
Much of Bond’s behaviour took place in the classroom where he would approach pupils from behind and force his groin against them while pretending to check their work, court documents stated.
There was also one brazen assault that took place in front of other teachers.
In 2010, Bond entered a computer class being supervised by two other teachers and approached a pupil from the rear.
The defendant put his chin on the boy’s shoulder then pressed his body against him, only leaving when one of the staff members shouted at him.
On occasion, Bond also isolated his teen victims.
In 2002 or 2003, he followed a 16-year-old into the school gym, where he congratulated him on winning a sporting event before pressing his hand against the front of the boy’s shorts.
Other instances were witnessed by junior cricketers who saw Bond rubbing himself through his shorts and indecently assaulting one 13-year-old player who was preparing to bat.
The teacher asked him if he was wearing a box.
"Before the victim could say anything, the defendant immediately reached down, put his hands on the victim’s penis and testicles and grabbed hold of them," the summary said.
Mrs Stevens said Bond had been "isolated and lonely" and now presented no risk to children.
The defendant’s reputation was in tatters but Mrs Stevens said his career remained his life’s work.
"He was a very good maths teacher. He was a very good sports coach ... He did give of himself fully to the young people of Otago Boys’ High School."
School rector Richard Hall, whose tenure at the school did not cross over with Bond’s, "unreservedly" apologised to all old boys affected after guilty pleas were entered in March.
"We won’t forget it and there is no attempt to distance ourselves from it," he said at the time.
