The accused man faces four charges of assault on a boy between 12 and 16, and three charges of indecent assault on a man/boy over 16.
The charges relate to alleged offending against students who boarded at St Bede’s College about 20 years ago.
He is due to appear in the Christchurch District Court on November 5.
Detective Senior Sergeant Karen Simmons said the alleged offender targeted students boarding at the school during this time
Simmons said the ongoing investigation aims to determine if any further offending has not yet been reported to police.
"We know it can be incredibly hard and at times distressing to report or talk about incidents of this nature, but we would like to reassure any victims of sexual offending we take these matters seriously."
Police are contacting students who boarded at the school at the time of the alleged offences.
"We have a number of officers and detectives dedicated to these cases, and we will ensure you have a safe space to report offending in confidence,” says Simmons.
St Bede’s College is an integrated Catholic day and boarding school for boys aged 12 (year 9) to 18 (year 13) located on Main North Rd, Papanui.
St Bede’s College board of trustees chairwoman Rebecca Methven told the New Zealand Herald the school had established a “Historical Sexual Abuse Notifications Policy”.
"We want to reiterate that any form of abuse is completely unacceptable and has no place in our College - either in the past or today," Methven told the Herald.
"We encourage any of our former students to review this policy and reach out if it may apply."
- Anyone affected should contact Detective Senior Sergeant Karen Simmons at the Christchurch Central Police Station or report it online using the file number 230122/3143.
