The Minister of Education is set to meet with the Teaching Council to see if changes need to be made to its investigation process, following a Christchurch teacher鈥檚 鈥渟erious misconduct鈥.
Meanwhile, the disgraced teacher has no comment to make on the scandal.
The teacher, legally known as聽Taurapa but previously known as Connor Taurapa Matthews, was employed as a te reo M膩ori teacher at Rangi Ruru Girls鈥 School in Christchurch in 2018.
He was simultaneously a house tutor residing in a boarding house at Christ鈥檚 College, which has a strong relationship with Rangi Ruru.
Taurapa鈥檚聽misconduct was made public on Monday聽after a suppression order lapsed.
On Friday, following a series of questions from the聽Herald,聽Education Minister Jan Tinetti said with consideration for the 鈥渟afety of our students鈥, she had asked to meet with the Teaching Council to discuss 鈥渨hether there are any changes needed to the investigation processes for teachers under investigation for misconduct鈥.
Taurapa declined to make any comment. Photo / George Heard
She said all children and young people 鈥渟hould be safe at school鈥.
鈥淚t is simply unacceptable for teachers to conduct any form of inappropriate behaviour.
鈥淚 encourage all children and young people to reach out to a trusted adult if they have any concerns about a teacher鈥檚 behaviour.鈥
On Friday, the聽Herald聽approached Taurapa as he got out of his black 2022 Tesla Model 3 in Cheviot. Asked for comment, Taurapa was silent and got back in his car and drove off.
On Tuesday, Christ鈥檚 College Board chairman Hugh Lindo told the聽Herald聽the school had appointed barrister Janna McGuigan to undertake an independent investigation of all aspects of Taurapa鈥檚 employment. This would include talking with those affected.
鈥淚 invite anyone who has further information to make direct contact with me so that I can facilitate their involvement in the investigation.
鈥淐hrist鈥檚 College should have initiated its own investigation into Taurapa鈥檚 behaviour as soon as we had been made aware of Ms Y鈥檚 complaint. He should have been suspended immediately and removed from the campus while an investigation was undertaken.
Helena Dray waived her name suppression after years of stigma and victim blaming. Photo / Instagram
鈥淭he decision not to investigate at the time is one of the matters that the independent investigation will be considering.鈥
Over the course of a year, Taurapa engaged in a relationship with the Year 12 student. Both Taurapa and the teenager were heavily involved in performing arts at the school.
Usually, the names of students in Teachers Disciplinary Tribunal cases are suppressed but in this case, Helena Dray asked the tribunal to waive her name suppression.
Dray and Taurapa would regularly communicate via social media as part of a te reo study group chat.
The content of the discussions between Taurapa and the other four students was innocuous to begin with, but Taurapa then began to message Dray directly.
The conversation became personalised and occurred outside of school hours. When Dray turned 16 in April 2018, Taurapa gifted her a writing journal containing a poem entitled Words of Love.
Around this time, Dray said Taurapa began to ask about sexualised topics, including masturbation.
Eventually, the pair spent time alone together. This first occurred in Taurapa鈥檚 Rangi Ruru classroom, watching a musical together on a bed of pillows and blankets in front of a projector.
Dray said it was there Taurapa 鈥渒issed me and felt me up, too鈥.
Over the following month of May, while working together on a musical production, Taurapa would meet Dray in dressing rooms, kissing and groping her.
Dray said one room in particular was chosen because of its lack of security cameras.
Taurapa would also offer to drop Dray home after rehearsals. He would hold her hand in the car and tell her to duck down if driving around town. He鈥檇 say goodbye with a kiss.
The actions left Dray feeling conflicted, used and emotionally drained, she told the tribunal.
Stuff hired Taurapa in July last year as a full-time te reo M膩ori translator. Photo / George Heard
While Dray said when it came to sex there appeared to be a line, such as Taurapa not coming to her house when invited, the pair discussed if 鈥渟omething further鈥 should happen. The relationship eventually became sexual.
Sexual images were also shared, with Dray telling the tribunal Taurapa would send them on 鈥渕ultiple occasions, too many to count鈥.
Dray briefly agreed to a request from Taurapa to perform a sex act on camera, but she quickly declined to do anything further.
鈥淢s Dray says that throughout all of their involvement, Taurapa would often tell her to make sure she deleted her messages with him from her phone and for her to 鈥榥ot leave a trace鈥,鈥 the tribunal鈥檚 decision said.
The relationship 鈥渇izzled out鈥 in early 2019. Shortly before he resigned from Rangi Ruru, Dray tried to contact him but Taurapa said 鈥渕y lawyer has told me not to contact you anymore鈥.
Dray said it had taken time to realise the effect the relationship had on her. She now has difficulty engaging with male authority figures and struggled to continue her te reo studies.
Taurapa was also engaged in 鈥渋nappropriate messaging鈥, with a girl referred to as Ms Y.
Ms Y was 16 when he began messaging her, and it continued when she turned 17. Ms Y, who attended another high school, met him around late September to early October 2018 at Christ鈥檚 College.
During the 2018/19 summer holidays, Taurapa would ask Ms Y for pictures of her in a bikini. He was often topless in bed when they would Snapchat each other.
In February 2019, Ms Y鈥檚 boss received a complaint from her parents about Taurapa messaging her.
Taurapa was also spoken to about the complaint. He then messaged Ms Y asking her to delete all of the messages that she saved from their conversations. She obliged but did not delete all the screenshots she had saved. Taurapa said he would not be contacting her again.
In March 2019, concerns were forwarded from Christ鈥檚 College to Rangi Ruru.
On March 19, a meeting was held with Taurapa. During the meeting he denied ever meeting Dray outside of school, but said he had dropped her off after a rehearsal for a show as he did not want her to walk home in the dark.
Taurapa was invited to a disciplinary meeting on March 26, 2019, and resigned the next month.
Concerns were eventually also passed to police, who notified the Ministry of Education (MoE).
Taurapa in his initial response denied the allegations in relation to Dray, and said he had done nothing wrong.
He later accepted he鈥檇 engaged in serious misconduct and breached his professional obligations.
Taurapa chose not to engage in the tribunal process, other than filing a statement denying a romantic relationship occurred.
鈥淲e do not accept Taurapa鈥檚 denials,鈥 the tribunal ruled. 鈥淭he entire account of Ms Dray is found proven.
鈥淭his type of conduct strikes at the heart of the teacher-student relationship. It is at the most serious end of serious misconduct cases that come before the tribunal.鈥
Taurapa鈥檚 registration as a teacher was cancelled.
In a statement to the聽Herald,聽Dray said she asked the tribunal to waive her name suppression so she could shed light on the teacher that targeted her while she was his student in 2018.
鈥淚t took years for me to come forward due to the stigma and victim blaming that commonly surrounds these cases,鈥 she said.
鈥淗e was aware of my vulnerability at the time. I believe his actions towards me were shameful and arrogant, and there should be no place for that in Aotearoa.鈥
Up until the tribunal鈥檚 decision was released on Monday, Taurapa had publicly enjoyed a successful career well within the media eye, including a podcast and translator role with Stuff, appearing in several news stories including one in Capital Mag where he claims to have worked for the government, the New Zealand Translation Center, 2020 General Election and Air New Zealand.
鈥淚t was difficult seeing Taurapa continue his career, especially in the media, although I held little doubt he would be let go from certain positions once this case was made public,鈥 Dray said.
Dray said it had taken time to realise the effect the relationship had on her. She now has difficulty engaging with male authority figures and struggled to continue her te reo studies.
鈥淚 have been in therapy for years now due to these events and only recently came to the understanding that I hold no blame for what happened to me,鈥 Dray said.
When Taurapa鈥檚 actions hit the headlines on Monday, Dray said it was the first time聽the school had contacted her personally about the ordeal.
鈥淚 felt a distinct lack of concern for my well-being from the school,鈥 Dray said.
When the tribunal decision was released, Taurapa was finally held accountable for his actions against Dray.
鈥淚 chose to waive name suppression as I have a name and I am a person. I fully respect that other victims have reasons for wanting to remain anonymous, and I want to emphasise that these reasons are completely valid and understandable, especially due to the stigma that commonly surrounds situations like this.
鈥淔or me personally, to be anonymous means to contribute to the narrative that victims鈥 actions are in some way shameful or contributory to their abuse. This is untrue, and harmful to victims, past, present, and future.
鈥淚f there is no name on the other end of these cases, it makes it harder to comprehend the impact these events have and allows perpetrators a level of detachment from the effects of their actions, giving them a continued unjust power over victims,鈥 Dray said.
Taurapa also previously worked for Stuff, which said he was hired in July last year as a full-time te reo M膩ori translator.
A spokesperson said he was 鈥渘o longer an employee鈥.
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