7 May 2012

Potter had quiet life after leaving prison

5:19 pm on 7 May 2012

The daughter-in-law of the disgraced commune leader and convicted child sex offender Bert Potter says he lived a quiet life after his release from prison.

Potter, 86, founded Centrepoint commune in Auckland in 1977 and died in Middlemore hospital on Sunday morning after a fall.

Felicity Goodyear-Smith, who is married to Potter's eldest son John, says Potter had Alzheimer's but was able to live independently until the last couple of months of his life.

Professor Goodyear-Smith says she hopes Potter's family and friends will be able to pay their respects at his funeral on Saturday without media intrusion.