Dilworth survivor left feeling ‘like dirt that could be washed down the drain’

Survivors of a former Dilworth school teacher and housemaster have told a court of failed marriages, drug and alcohol abuse and suicide attempts.

Some of those eight men and their families were at the High Court in Auckland to see Robert Howard Gladwin Wynyard sentenced to six years and three months imprisonment for sexually abusing boys in his care.

The 74-year-old earlier pleaded guilty to 11 indecent assault charges, some of which date back to the 1980s.

With the help of a walking stick, Wynyard made his way out of the dock to begin his sentence for sexual offending which happened over two decades.

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Justice Simon Moore said it was impossible not to be moved by the statements from the survivors, read in court by prosecutors Jacob Barry and Belle Archibald.

One of the men remembered feeling guilt and shame as a boy when Wynyard first abused him.

“When it happened a second time, not only did I feel ashamed and frightened, but it left me feeling like a piece of dirt that could be washed down the drain.”

He began self harming and attempted suicide.

“Everyday I shower is a constant reminder of what Wynyard did to me.”

He questioned Wynyard’s reported remorse and said if he was sorry, he would have handed himself in decades ago.

Another man abused by Wynyard said as a boy he had been abused by another Dilworth staff member, before Wynyard asked him to stay after class and help the teacher put things away. Wynyard then sexually abused him.

He spoke of depression, anxiety and suicide in his adult years.

“The nasty shit gets in your head and mucks things up.”

He questioned the motives of Wynyard, offering $10,000 reparation to each of the survivors for “emotional harm”.

“You shouldn’t be able to buy your way out of jail.”

Another spoke of losing confidence and withdrawing after being sexually abused.

He spoke of Wynyard’s sexual abuse contributing to the end of his marriage.

In sentencing, Justice Moore spoke of the vulnerabilty of the boys abused by Wynyard.

He said Dilworth had a history of taking boys from disadvantaged backgrounds. He then quoted from Justice Kit Toogood’s sentencing notes of Dilworth’s former chaplain, Ross Browne.

“To the extent that Dilworth was intended to provide some kind of sanctuary for boys experiencing difficulties at home, your behaviour operated to achieve precisely the opposite effect.”

Justice Moore started with a sentence of 10 years and six months but reduced that after taking into account a range of factors including remorse, the reparation payments and guilty pleas before trial.

Court documents released to Stuff show Wynyard sexually abused some of the boys in his classroom. On one occasion he asked a boy to stay behind after class and help him tidy up.

Wynyard abused the boy as he stood on a ladder or desk to reach a high shelf and stack textbooks.

He targeted other boys in the dormitory in one of the boarding houses where he was housemaster, and attacked another in the phone room.

The teacher also admitted sexually abusing two other boys in the 2000s, after leaving Dilworth.

Some survivors of the teacher’s offending contacted police after media coverage of court cases involving other former Dilworth staff.

The summary of facts said while none of the survivors were physically injured, the “psychological damage for many has been irreparable”.

Wynyard taught in Britain before returning to New Zealand and starting at Dilworth in 1977.

The Dilworth Legacy book, commemorating the school’s centenary, records that he took over as housemaster of MacMurray from Rex McIntosh.

McIntosh also faced child sex abuse charges but died before his case made it to trial.

The book does not record where Wynyard went or why he resigned.

Wynyard faced allegations back in 1997. The case made it to trial but was dismissed after the survivor gave evidence.

It is unclear why the case was dismissed, as parts of the court file have been lost.

It’s also not clear where Wynyard went after leaving Dilworth, but Papatoetoe Intermediate principal Pauline Cornwell told Stuff that she believed he started at her school in 1986, 15 years before she did.

Within two years, Wynyard was appointed deputy principal.

He remained there until his retirement in 2014 but came back from time to time as a relief teacher until 2020, Cornwell said.

“Our search of his employment records, completed for the police in 2020, did not find any record of any complaints raised in the school and I have not received any directly.”

In a statement to parents on the school’s website, Cornwell acknowledged Wynyard’s presence at the school would be “unsettling” to parents.

“Our thoughts and support are with survivors and their whanau. We acknowledge the suffering they have endured because of this person’s offending.”

Cornwell said the school had recently reviewed its “student wellbeing” policies and procedures. It also now had a “historic claims procedure”.

She said anyone that had information or concerns about Wynyard should contact the police.