Disgraced teacher loses registration over relationship with teen

The Teachers Disciplinary Tribunal censured the teacher and cancelled his registration cancelled. Photo / File

A teenage girl started self-harming and needed counselling after having an intimate relationship with a disgraced teacher.

The teacher was censured and had his registration cancelled. The student was 17 at the time of the relationship.

The Teachers Disciplinary Tribunal suppressed the name of the teacher and the school, partly to protect the girl's identity.

The intimate relationship began on a field trip. The tribunal said when the relationship ended, the teenager "went through a period of self-harming."

The tribunal said the high school teacher admitted he was wrong to start the relationship with the girl.

He now could not "see a future for himself that involves teaching" and had no intention of ever going back to the profession.

"...I please ask that you consider the others in this who have done nothing wrong and who will suffer because of my mistake, before removing the name suppression," the teacher told the tribunal.

The tribunal said the teacher wanted name suppression "not so much for his benefit as for the benefit of his immediate and extended family.

The tribunal also said releasing the school's name and teacher's name could cast suspicion on other students.

The tribunal said the "inappropriate relationship" happened in a small school. The teacher left the school when his colleagues became aware of the relationship.