WARNING: This story details sexual harm and may be upsetting.

A teacher at a prestigious private girls’ school had an inappropriate relationship with a 16-year-old student, involving the sharing of nude images and sex acts in a car.

His conduct strikes at the heart of the teacher-student relationship a disciplinary tribunal said, and was so serious the teacher has been struck off.

The teacher, legally known as Taurapa but previously known as Connor Taurapa Matthews, was employed as a te reo Māori teacher at Rangi Ruru Girls’ School in Christchurch in 2018.

He was simultaneously a house tutor residing in a boarding house at Christ’s College, which has a strong relationship with Rangi Ruru.

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 were 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’s 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 “kissed me and felt me up, too”.

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 due to 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’d say goodbye with a kiss.

The actions left Dray feeling conflicted, used, and emotionally drained, she told the tribunal.

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 “something further” should happen.

Not long after that, Dray performed oral sex on Taurapa while he performed a sex act on her.

Sexual images were also shared, with Dray telling the tribunal Taurapa would send them on “multiple occasions, too many to count”.

Dray briefly agreed to a request from Taurapa to perform a sex act on camera, but she quickly declined to do anything further.

“Ms Dray recounts that messaging occurred near daily for close to a year. Messages before and after school would be much more personal than anything sent during school time,” the tribunal’s decision said.

“Ms 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 ‘not leave a trace’.”

The relationship “fizzled out” in early 2019. Shortly before he resigned from Rangi Ruru, Dray tried to make contact but was told by Taurapa “my lawyer has told me not to contact you anymore”.

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.

A witness, a friend of Dray’s, gave evidence outlining that Dray had shared details about the relationship over 2018.

Taurapa was also engaged in “inappropriate messaging”, 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’s College.

On one evening in 2018, Taurapa asked her for her Snapchat details. The pair then began to exchange messages via text and Snapchat.

Ms Y told her parents she had started messaging him. Initially, her parents had no issue with it, but later became concerned given the age gap (Taurapa was in his early 20s). Ms Y also had no previous relationship experience.

After her parents expressed their concern, she stopped messaging him. However, he kept messaging her, and eventually she began responding.

On November 6, 2018 Taurapa met up with Ms Y and a friend to drop off a pair of Karen Walker earrings that he purchased for Ms Y’s 17th birthday. The pair hugged after the gift was given.

On November 18, 2018 Ms Y received a Snapchat from Taurapa which included the caption: “you can just go out with me after next year then lol”.

From November 2018 to January 2019, Taurapa and Ms Y continued to message each other on Snapchat. Taurapa invited Ms Y to attend social activities with him, such as punting on the Avon.

Around this time he also messaged her about boyfriends and girlfriends. Several times in 2018 he told her that it would not be OK for them to “got out” now, but they could once she had left high school.

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 early 2019, Taurapa sent Ms Y several messages in one evening with one that said “yeah, I love seeing you”.

The report says that during the period the pair messaged, Taurapa would “continuously” request Ms Y add him to her private accounts on other social media platforms. She declined. She also declined to go on any dates with him.

In February 2019, Ms Y’s 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 of the screenshots she had saved. Taurapa said he would not be contacting her again.

In March 2019, concerns were forwarded from Christ’s College to Rangi Ruru.

On 19 March a meeting was held with Taurapa. During the meeting he denied ever meeting Dray outside of the school, but said he had dropped her off following a rehearsal for a show as he did not want her to walk home in the dark.

He could not recall how many times this had happened, but that sometimes there were others in the car.

Taurapa was invited to a disciplinary meeting on March 26, 2019.

On April 8, 2019 he resigned from Rangi Ruru effective immediately. He said his relationship with the school had become “untenable”.

Concerns were eventually also passed on to police, who on September 11 2019 notified the Ministry of Education (MoE) about his conduct in respect of Dray and Ms Y. The MoE referred the matter to the teacher’s council.

Taurapa said in his initial response to the mandatory report that he denied the allegations in relation to Dray, and said he had done nothing wrong.

He accepted he met Dray outside of school hours, but said all meetings were school-related, aside from one when he received a “distressed phone call” from her.

After being provided more information, including statements from staff, and Dray, as well as screenshots of his messages with Ms Y he provided a further response.

On July 30, 2020 he said that, on reflection, he accepted he engaged in serious misconduct and breached his professional obligations “by attempting to help [Dray] with her hauora and mental health”.

He said he would be engaging with a professional clinical psychologist to understand his behaviour and ensure it did not happen again.

At the Complaints Assessment Committee meeting, Taurapa did not deny having messaged Ms Y. He stated that their relationship was a friendship (with physical contact having been limited to a hug) and that he had not contacted her further after her parents had raised concerns.

He said that he had initially not known how old she was, but that he had stopped communicating with her when he found out her age.

‘The most serious conduct that comes before us’

The tribunal considered Dray’s evidence, which included copies of many social media conversations, to be sound.

”Ms Dray has been reasonable and measured in her affidavit, where there could easily have been opportunity to get carried away.”

Taurapa himself chose not to engage in the tribunal process, other than filing a statement denying a romantic relationship occurred.

”We do not accept Taurapa’s denials,” the tribunal ruled. “The entire account of Ms Dray is found proven.

“This 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.”

In the tribunal’s written decision, deputy chair Tim Mackenzie wrote the section on penalty “will be short”.

”Cancellation is a near presumption for this type of conduct,” he wrote.

Taurapa’s registration as a teacher was cancelled.

While Dray herself did not seek name suppression, both Christ’s College and Rangi Ruru did, saying identifying the school would identify Dray.

With Dray not subject to name suppression, those arguments fell away. The school’s lawyer also said given the schools are both private, that risked “disproportionate media coverage”.

The tribunal declined to grant suppression to both schools.

Taurapa, a wedding celebrant, also sought name suppression, arguing because he is Māori he would suffer “tabloid-style” coverage due to racial bias.

The tribunal said the risk was not real or appreciable and Taurapa was denied suppression.

Rangi Ruru Board of Governors Chair Nicki Carter said in a statement to the Herald the school was made aware of the allegations of “serious misconduct” in March 2019.

“As soon as the school was made aware of the allegations the teacher was stood down, an internal investigation was initiated, and the matter was referred to the Teaching Council. The teacher resigned from their position in April 2019, whilst the school’s investigation was being undertaken.

“The Teaching Council decision released today confirms a breach of professional standards took place, and we strongly condemn the behaviour of this former teacher.”

Carter said the school’s thoughts were with those impacted by his behaviour.

“We commend the bravery of those who provided evidence in the case.

“Teaching is a privilege, and behaviour which threatens the safety and wellbeing of any student is completely unacceptable. We are incredibly disappointed that the former teacher broke the trust placed in them.”

Christ’s College Board Chair Hugh Lindo said in a statement to the Herald, that Taurapa was employed as a residential tutor between June 2018 and December 2021.

An investigation was triggered when two College staff reported their concerns about his behaviour to Rangi Ruru Girls’ School, where he was teaching at the time when one of the female students had been seen visiting him at Christ’s College.

Taurapa was not a teacher at Christ’s College, Lindo said.

“Our thoughts are with the survivors of Taurapa’s misconduct, and we acknowledge their strength and courage in describing their experiences to the Disciplinary Tribunal,” Lindo said.

“College fully supported the investigation by the Teaching Council. Taurapa left Christ’s College before the Disciplinary Tribunal released its decision. The decision noted that both schools had acted appropriately.”

The Tribunal’s findings followed publicity about the “inappropriate behaviour” of Andrew Maclennan, an elite sports coach, and former teacher who “intermittently” worked at the school and who was also investigated by the Teaching Council, Lindo said.

“Christ’s College has initiated an independent review of its employment practices by Child Matters, a specialist in the development of effective child protection policy, procedure and education regarding staff recruitment. This review is now under way.”

Taurapa previously worked for Stuff.

In a statement, Stuff confirmed he was hired in July last year as a full-time te reo Māori translator.

A spokesperson was quoted saying: “Taurapa is no longer an employee of Stuff. Stuff fully supports people who speak out and challenge those who abuse positions of trust and authority. We expect our staff to adhere to high standards of conduct and where they fall short of this, we take appropriate action.”

NZME has approached Taurapa and Rangi Ruru school for comment.

SEXUAL HARM

Where to get help:
If it's an emergency and you feel that you or someone else is at risk, call 111.
If you've ever experienced sexual assault or abuse and need to talk to someone, contact Safe to Talk confidentially, any time 24/7:
• Call 0800 044 334
• Text 4334
• Email [email protected]
• For more info or to web chat visit safetotalk.nz
Alternatively contact your local police station - click here for a list.
If you have been sexually assaulted, remember it's not your fault.