Disgraced teacher hired and elected to board, despite school knowing of investigation into conduct

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A teacher who had a sexual relationship with a student was employed by another school and elected to its board, despite the school knowing he was under investigation by the teaching profession’s watchdog.

The acting principal of Te Kura Kaupapa Māori Te Whānau Tahi, a Christchurch Māori immersion school, emailed parents on Monday and said the school was “disappointed” the Teaching Council had not alerted it to its investigation into Taurapa’s serious misconduct.

However, on Friday the council told Stuff the school was made aware of the investigation several months before he started work there in January 2020, and was “closely involved in every step of the process”.

Taurapa, formerly known as Connor Taurapa Matthews, had himself fully disclosed the investigation to the school before he was employed, as he was required to do, it said.

“It was clear Te Whānau Tahi believed they could put enough safeguards in place for him to teach.”

The school’s co-board chairs and the acting principal, Hayley May, have not responded to repeated requests for comment this week about what the school knew of the investigation into Taurapa’s conduct.

There is no suggestion he behaved inappropriately with any students during the more than two years he taught at Te Whānau Tahi.

Taurapa worked at Te Kura Kaupapa Maori o Te Whanau Tahi while under investigation by the Teaching Council.

Alden Williams/Stuff

Taurapa worked at Te Kura Kaupapa Maori o Te Whanau Tahi while under investigation by the Teaching Council.

The Teaching Council has conceded it was wrong not to ask him to voluntarily step down from teaching when it first received a complaint about his behaviour in September 2019.

The fallout from the damning revelations about Taurapa’s serious abuse of his position has reached the highest echelons of government, with Education Minister Jan Tinetti saying on Friday she’d asked to meet with the Teaching Council to see if there were any changes needed to “the investigation processes for teachers under investigation for misconduct”.

On Monday, Stuff revealed Taurapa had been struck off the teaching register after the Teachers Disciplinary Tribunal found he’d had a sexual relationship with a 16-year-old student, and groomed another teenager.

From 2018 to April 2019 he was a te reo Māori teacher at Rangi Ruru Girls’ School in Christchurch. During that period he was also a live-in house tutor at Christ’s College.

In February 2019, Christ’s College was alerted to concerns about SnapChat messages Taurapa had been sending a 17-year-old girl, known as Ms Y, who worked part-time for a contractor at the school. While the girl’s boss spoke to Taurapa, the school took no action against him.

Then, a month later, Taurapa’s relationship with 16-year-old Rangi Ruru student Helena Dray – who has waived her right to anonymity – was exposed by two Christ’s College staffers who’d become suspicious of his behaviour, and one photographed his car outside the teenager’s home late at night.

In April 2019, Taurapa, then aged in his early 20s, quit his teaching job while under investigation by Rangi Ruru. However, there was a six-month delay in the matter being flagged with the Teaching Council because the principal of the girls’ school mistakenly sent a mandatory report to the wrong email address.

Helena Dray was just 16 when she had an intimate relationship with her Rangi Ruru Girls’ School teacher, Taurapa.

Stuff

Helena Dray was just 16 when she had an intimate relationship with her Rangi Ruru Girls’ School teacher, Taurapa.

In the interim, Taurapa was employed as a teacher at Hornby High School on a fixed term, part-time contract for about five months. “I understand the referee’s checks undertaken at the time did not indicate any concerns or alarm bells,” the school’s newly appointed principal Iain Murray said on Tuesday.

When the Teaching Council eventually received the mandatory report in September 2019, it did not seek to suspend Taurapa or ask him to voluntarily stop teaching – steps it could have taken.

However, he was told he had to notify his employer and any prospective employer that he was under investigation.

At the time, Taurapa denied any wrongdoing, saying meetings he’d had with Dray outside of school hours were school-related, except for an incident where he responded to a distressed call from her.

It’s unclear if he told Hornby High about the investigation. Taurapa has repeatedly declined to comment, and Murray was unable to say when the school became aware of the allegations.

In November 2019, during the recruitment process for the Te Whānau Tahi teaching job, Taurapa “fully disclosed” the investigation to the school, the Teaching Council said.

At the time, his brother, Anton Matthews, was a Te Whānau Tahi board member. He is now one of the school’s co-board chairs. There is nothing to suggest he influenced the decision to hire Taurapa.

In 2021, Taurapa was elected to Te Whānau Tahi’s board. He joined Stuff as a te reo translator in July the following year, about the time the Teaching Council’s complaints assessment committee referred the allegations about him to the Teachers Disciplinary Tribunal. He no longer works for the media organisation.

The full extent of Taurapa’s relationship with Dray didn’t become clear until January 2023, when she provided an affidavit to a Teaching Council investigator.

In her affidavit, she said that after messaging her privately via SnapChat, he bought her a 16th birthday present, gave her poetry, and sent her messages almost every day, including naked videos and photos of himself, before they eventually performed sex acts on each other in his car one day as he drove her home from a school activity.

In an email to parents of Te Whānau Tahi students on Monday, May acknowledged details of Taurapa’s misconduct “may have been disturbing and caused upset”.

“We are disappointed the [Teaching] Council did not alert us about the investigation and the seriousness of the allegations that were ongoing whilst [Taurapa] was employed at kura (the school),” the leaked email says.

“We will be following up with them about why we were not notified. Please be rest assured that correct employment practices were followed on our part.”

Taurapa was allowed to continue working at Christ’s College after allegations were raised about his conduct.

George Heard/The Press

Taurapa was allowed to continue working at Christ’s College after allegations were raised about his conduct.

May said the school was “mindful of the impact” on Taurapa’s whānau “and our hearts and thoughts are with them at this difficult time”.

“They remain a highly valued whānau within our kura, and wider hāpori (community).”

The school had “no cause for concern” for past or present students, she said. “Obviously we do not condone or support the actions of this former kaimahi (employee) in any way.”

A senior member of staff was available to talk to anyone who might need someone “safe to talk to”.

In response to questions from Stuff, a Teaching Council spokesperson said the case was “complex” and “unusual”.

After reviewing the allegations that were first raised with the Teaching Council in 2019, Taurapa should have been asked to voluntarily stand down from teaching at the time, the spokesperson said.

“With hindsight it would have been appropriate.” If he’d refused, an interim suspension may have been sought.

Delays to the investigation were caused by Covid-19, as Taurapa requested an in-person meeting, and the availability of non-conflicted te reo speaking teachers for the Complaints Assessment Committee.

In its decision, the tribunal said that even without Dray’s affidavit, the evidence “indicated an escalating pattern of inappropriate of attention” being paid to the two teenagers, and would have met the serious misconduct test.

Earlier this week, Dray revealed it had taken her years to come forward to the teaching council “due to the stigma and victim blaming that commonly surrounds these cases”.

She said she’d waived suppression to help make Taurapa accountable, saying his actions were “shameful and arrogant”.

One of the Christ’s College staffers who blew the whistle on Taurapa’s relationship with Dray previously told Stuff he thought it was completely unacceptable Taurapa was allowed to continue working there as a house tutor – something the school now concedes shouldn’t have happened.

“He should have been suspended immediately and removed from the campus while an investigation was undertaken,” board chairperson Hugh Lindo said on Tuesday.

The school has appointed a lawyer to investigate “all aspects of Taurapa’s employment” there.

On Friday, Stuff’s chief people officer Annamarie Jamieson wouldn’t comment about what vetting was done when Taurapa was hired, other than to say that the company “has a comprehensive recruitment process”.

“When new information relating to any employee comes to light, regardless of timing, we take swift and appropriate action.”

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