Donald Cecil Barham, 74, was charged with indecent assault following witness reports of inappropriate behaviour at Moana Pool on November 26, 2022.
But it was not only the defendant who denied it had happened.
The boy involved took the same position.
"It’s an unusual case in that there’s no complaint," Judge David Robinson told the Dunedin District Court this week.
After members of a rehabilitation group on a recreational trip to Moana Pool claimed Barham had molested the child, Constable Murray Holt interviewed the defendant, trespassing him from the premises in the process.
Barham told police he had come into contact with the boy because he had "received a message from a higher Christian source" to help a certain sector of the community.
That group cannot be named, to protect the identity of the boy.
In a later, formal interview he described the sexual allegations as "b......." and said he wished the boy’s parents had spoken to him first rather than police.
"I would’ve liked to tell them there’s more depth to what I’m doing than any sort of paedophilia or whatever it’s called. I’m just not interested," he said.
The court heard several men from Moana House — a residential rehabilitation facility — were on their weekly visit to the pools.
Staff member Glenn Michie, who was supervising the party, said he watched Barham playing with the child in the pool for up to 15 minutes, "kind of grabbing the boy".
"It was just an ugly feeling inside me," he said.
Another of the party, Dustin Thomas, said he saw inappropriate touching go on for up to 10 minutes and he described allegedly sexualised comments being made by the defendant as "quite disgusting".
Counsel Brendan Stephenson asked why he did not confront Barham immediately.
"If I’d gone that way I would’ve hit the old boy. I chose to go and tell someone," Mr Thomas said.
"I thought my way of handling it was better than confronting him because I would’ve ended up hitting him. Damn straight."
When the allegations were put to Barham by Detective Constable Todd Balogh in August 2023, he appeared stunned.
"Wow," the defendant said.
He said he would only have helped the boy dry his back and would never have touched his groin.
Barham told police he had no detailed memory of the November incident because it was a typical day.
He described the complainant as "boisterous".
"One or two times he was running around naked but that’s his thing. Nothing to do with me," the defendant said.
Judge Robinson said his decision was "simply a straightforward credibility and reliability contest".
There was nothing in the way the boy gave evidence that caused him to doubt his "credibility, reliability, honesty or integrity".
Similarly, he could not find fault with the other witnesses.
Ultimately, Judge Robinson said he was left with reasonable doubt and acquitted Barham.
