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John Fleming
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56 sex charges involving 24 of indecent assault on a boy under 16, 2 of anal intercourse, 7 of sexual violation, 7 of indecency on a boy under the age of 12, 8 of indecent assault on a boy aged 12 to 16 arising from some 4000 or so incidents in South Auckland over a 24 year period
Had 9 previous convictions for indecent assault in 1972, 1985 and 1990
.
.
none known
Born 1943
Prison
Sentenced to at least 20 years in December 1996
Eligible for parole late 2015 - after 12 months on remand
Background
From NZ Herald story December 11th 1996
The countries worst known sex offender molested boys for 25 years even though his family, church and justice officials knew of his paedophile tendencies. John David Fleming was yesterday sentenced to preventive detention, with a non-parole period of 20 years, when he appeared in the High Court at Auckland on 56 sex charges.
The chubby loner had earlier admitted 4229 sex offences on 42 boys aged between 4 and 15 years. The 53 year old storeman, of Onehunga, began offending in 1971 and faced charges including sodomy, sexual violation and indecent assault. Some of the offences were committed when Fleming was supposed to be getting counselling for earlier sex offences. The former Sunday school supervisor conned the Pacific Island community into thinking he was a saint to disguise his lust for young boys, the court heard yesterday.
The crown prosecutor, Mr Phillip Hamlin, said that Fleming befriended the families through work and church, wooed them with gifts, and later lured the children into his house. He had such a reign of terror that all but one of the victims were too scared to report the sexual abuse to their parents, he said. Several had tried to commit suicide but Fleming had shown no remorse or insight into the devastation he had caused.
Mr Hamlin asked for a 25 year non-parole period similar to that given to the South Auckland serial rapist Joseph Thompson – "the only comparable case." Fleming’s lawyer, Mr David McNaughton, said that his client could be described as a simpleton, who had lived in his parents clutches all his life. His father, virtually illiterate and a stern disciplinarian, had stifled Fleming’s efforts to break away and develop a social life, so he gravitated towards children.
In 1985 he served five months of an 11 month jail term and was released on condition that he undertake Bible studies and psychological counselling, but no one ensured he finished the latter. Mr McNaughton said that it was easy with hindsight to say all the warning signs were there and that the criminal justice system should have responded far better. Justice Dame Silvia Cartwright said that Fleming’s family accepted his offending and his victims were powerless to prevent the repugnant and degrading abuse he inflicted on them.
Fleming was sentenced to preventive detention for offences committed after 1985. He was sentenced to a total of 24 years imprisonment for offences committed before 1985. Outside the court, the officer in charge of the case, Detective Sergeant Phil Kirkham, said that the heavy penalties were a warning to other sex offenders. The Royal Oak Baptist Church, which Fleming attended, says it will offer counseling to victims.
Also from NZ Herald background article 8th November 1996
A former Sunday school supervisor conned everyone into thinking he was a saint to disguise his lust for young boys. John David Fleming preyed on the Pacific Island community in Auckland for 25 years, leaving a trail of victims which the police say could number more than 150.
The podgy loner, convicted on 56 charges yesterday and remanded for sentence, targeted poor families with little education, wooed their children with extravagant gifts and began taking them on outgoings and holidays. Fleming was often seen with a van load of boys he had picked up from homes in Western Springs, Onehunga, Mt Albert, Remuera, Otara and Mangere. He became so entrenched in the lives of the families that he had access to the children virtually whenever he wanted.
Little did they know that during outgoings to beaches and swimming pools he was leering at the boys in changing rooms and helping them undress. But his main play pen was his mother’s home in Onehunga, which he shared with her until his arrest in December last year. He regularly took boys back to the house for meals cooked by his mother and encourage them to sleep over in bunks in his bedroom. It was there that much of the offending occurred. Initially he would hug and kiss the boys and fondle their genitals. Later they would perform oral sex on them (or they on him), have them masturbate him, have simulated sex with them and in several cases sodomise them.
Fleming is a recidivist offender, with three previous convictions for sex offences involving nine boys. The police arrested him in December last year while they investigating an unrelated paedophile ring in Auckland. A complainant in the case who also new Fleming spoke to the police about him. When they searched Fleming’s home they discovered hundred of photos of young boys in albums. He admitted touching or indecently assaulting 29 of the boys and a further 13 victims were later traced by the police.
Fleming had such a pull over the community that the police inquiries caused major rifts in some of the families. Some parents still maintain he is innocent. Virtually none of the children had previously told their parents they were being abused for the fear that Fleming would harm them. Fleming came from a dysfunctional family and was probably sexually abused as a child, according to sources.
The officer in charge of the case, Detective Sergeant Phil Kirkham, of Auckland central, said that while Fleming loathed the idea of homosexuality, he saw nothing wrong with his actions and had shown no remorse. He offered no explanation for his behaviour, and told the police that he had placed himself in the hands of God. "He’s a nobody whose best friend is his mother. He is a sexual predator who is still innocent in her eyes," said Sergeant Kirkham. After his arrest last year, the 72-year-old woman told the police that her son spent time with the boys because he loved kids. No charges have been laid against her.
Fleming first appeared in the Auckland District Court in 1972, when he was fined $50 for two counts of indecent assault. In 1985 he was jailed for 11 months on five counts of indecent assault. In 1990 he received nine months periodic detention and 18 months supervision for two charges of indecent assault. Sergeant Kirkham said that sex offenders usually only admitted up to 15 percent of their offending. Victims were likely to reveal only a quarter of what had been done to them. However, he said that Fleming had corrupted the minds of many of the children, affected their relationships with their families and driven at least two of them to attempt suicide. He said the tragedy was that some of Fleming’s victims were likely to become sex offenders themselves. "If someone manipulates you and you think it is normal, you are going to follow the same avenue," he said
Also from NZ Herald story 8th December 1996
Confessed child molester John Fleming struck such fear into his victims that many have still not told their parents. One of his "regulars" who cannot be named under law, has kept the abuse from his family for 21 years.
The 28-year-old Papatoetoe man, who was traced by the police this year, said he met Fleming in 1976, when he was living in Otara as a seven-year-old. "My cousin was his favourite at the time and Fleming used him to draw other children in," he said. After a two month initiation period, during which Fleming lavished gifts on the family, he began to invite the seven-year-old out. The boy later spent weekends at Flemings Onehunga house with other boys.
"He started off kissing and hugging me. Later we had oral sex. It really disgusted me but by then I was caught in his web," said the father of two. "I felt lost and manipulated, I was too scared of John to tell my parents. He had a real sex driven hunger in his eyes all the time which use to scare me" he said. When he was 10 years old he decided to stop seeing Fleming but found it difficult to get on with his own life. "He stuffed me up and stole my childhood away ... I would have had a better life without him."
He said that sex was a taboo subject in his Cook Island culture, but he hoped to gain the courage to tell his parents one day. Meanwhile, the mother of two of Fleming’s victims said she was angry that some families, including her own relatives, refused to acknowledge Fleming’s guilt. She had known Fleming since she was a child and had implicitly trusted him with her four-year-old and seven-year-old sons.
The boys, now aged 12 and 15 regularly spent time with Fleming over a four year period. The younger boy remembered being fondled as he played with his toys while his older brother fought off John’s advances. It was not until the boys were caught playing with each other’s genitals in their bedroom that their parents clicked on to Fleming’s offending. "We had to drag it out of them because they were so scared of John," she said. The shock took its toll on the parent’s, who have since separated.
From Brian Harmer's WYSIWYG News December 1996
"Auckland sex offender John Fleming, 53, who pleaded guilty to charges involving 4,229 separate offences with young boys in the Pacific Islands community in South Auckland, has been sentenced to at least 20 years in prison. "
