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They taunted him to hang himself 24 hours a day.

But by the end of August, the situation had calmed somewhat as the other men at Paparua got to know Peter.

A number of them were familiar with the case and didn't think Peter was guilty.

One notorious individual who'd watched the trial coverage on the news was overheard remarking, ''That poor fuck has been set up.''

One day, a fellow inmate approached Peter and said, ''My mum thinks you're innocent.''

Some of the guards were sympathetic as well.

One in particular told Peter he didn't belong in Paparua, before letting him out of his cell to do some odd jobs on the sly.

Peter had never doubted that the entire matter would eventually be resolved in his favour.

From the moment he'd learnt that a child had made a comment about not liking his black penis, he assumed everyone would have to see that there was no case at all.

Even when he found himself on trial in the High Court, Peter was certain his name would be cleared.

He never could have imagined that the end result would be a decade in prison and still couldn't believe anyone would think him capable of molesting children.

Although some had thought it suspicious that he'd opted to work in a crèche over an animal shelter when he was a known animal lover, Peter had chosen the crèche because it was an easy walk from his house.

The animal shelter would require him to catch a bus every day, which he couldn't afford at the time.

It was true that he sometimes had inappropriate conversations with colleagues at work and occasionally faced reprimands for being too boisterous with the children, but overall, Peter had been a popular and beloved member of the Kreisch community.

Some of the accusations made against him, like the claims that he had locked children in cages with lions and killed a boy named Andrew, were so patently false that they weren't mentioned at trial.

But even less outlandish claims could be refuted by basic facts.

Several children had identified an old boarding house where Peter had lived as a place where he'd abused them after parents had taken them there.

But Peter had moved out of that house years earlier, in some cases, years before the complainant children were even born.

In fact, only one complainant had attended the creche when Peter had lived there.

Four of the complainants said Peter had driven them in his car to various locations where they were abused.