Warning: This article references child abuse and exploitation material
Former pupils of a disgraced predator teacher believe he used a “two-way classroom mirror” to film sex abuse material involving students.
Now in their late 20s, the students say there were clear warning signs about Timothy Fisher’s sexualised behaviour more than a decade before he was jailed for abusing young girls.
They are sickened to learn the Teaching Council was warned by police the man should not be alone with kids, but didn’t inform their school, which has now emerged as a location of his offending.
Education Minister Erica Stanford has sought an urgent briefing from the Teaching Council about the case and a review of vetting practices after an investigation by the Herald.
Stratford High School, which employed Fisher as a drama teacher from 2012 to 2014, said he was subject to an employment investigation after a 2014 complaint.
But the school denies the existence of a two-way mirror in Fisher’s old classroom, as alleged by three former students, with a review finding it was more likely “regular window glass”.
New details have emerged about Fisher, now a convicted child sex offender, who the Herald revealed was able to use the Clean Slate Act to hide historical indecency convictions, dodge police vets and become a teacher.
Police have confirmed a video found on his devices, believed to show Fisher masturbating while watching students in another room, was shot at Stratford High.
Ex-pupils claim Fisher touched students inappropriately on the thigh and breast, tied a girl’s hands behind her back, discussed meeting men for sex on K Rd, and told students auto-erotic asphyxia would give them more intense orgasms.
While several pupils said they complained to the school about Fisher at the time, they claimed their complaints were ignored, with one allegedly told she was making it up because Fisher gave her bad grades.
Police said other videos found on Fisher’s devices depicting child abuse material were shot at other, as yet, unidentified schools.
One of the videos depicted Fisher masturbating with a girl on his lap, another shows him masturbating beside two blindfolded female students.
Anyone who believes they might have been among Fisher’s victims is urged to contact police.
Fisher left the college in late 2014. Ten years later, he would abuse nine girls while working as an English teacher at private after-school tutoring company EduExperts after hopping between various teaching jobs in the state and private sectors.
He was jailed this month for indecent assault and making objectionable material.
It’s emerged he worked for at least five state secondary schools and underwent four police vets between 2011 and 2017.
The Herald has also confirmed that despite police warning Fisher should not be allowed unsupervised access to children in 2014, the Teaching Council failed to alert Stratford High.
And the council did not seek further information from police for 10 months – until May 2015 – before issuing him a new practising certificate in March the following year.
The delay has shocked former students, who believe he used a tinted reflective window connecting his drama classroom with a prop storage area to film the sex abuse material, which Fisher admitted to in court.
“I could be in that footage, and my classmates could be in that footage,” one of the ex-students told the Herald.
“It’s f***ed.”
The woman was horrified to learn the Teaching Council did not alert the school to police concerns in 2014.
She alleged Fisher made concerning sexualised comments to students.
“He had explained why auto-erotic asphyxia was a thing, that it would make your orgasm more intense. That’s disgusting to say out loud. He said this to a group of students.”
The woman also claimed Fisher detailed his experience as a bisexual man meeting people for sex on Auckland’s Karangahape Rd.
She said she complained informally to the school after finding small alcohol bottles in the prop room and after Fisher allegedly called a student a “heifer”, but received no response.
The woman had now contacted police to confirm if she was in the video, and wanted others to know they could do the same if they felt confident.
Another former student was also disgusted to learn Fisher filmed sex abuse material at Stratford High. She has also approached police.
The woman was sickened that the Teaching Council failed to alert her old school and felt the college might have acted sooner had it been notified of police concerns.
She alleged she complained to school leaders about Fisher tying her hands behind her back in 2014 but wasn’t believed.
He was very “touchy” and would touch the students in inappropriate places, including the waist, thigh and breast, she said.
“The more he got comfortable with us, the more inappropriate he would get.”
On one occasion, the woman alleged she and other students were playing with a blindfold, when he grabbed her arms, “tying my hands up behind my back”.
She and her friends told him to stop, but he persisted.
“We knew it was wrong, but when you’re that young you’re too scared to do anything because you don’t want to get in trouble. I didn’t even tell my parents.”
The incident left her in tears. She claimed she and her friends reported Fisher’s conduct to the school.
A school leader allegedly told her it was a serious accusation and asked if she was “making it up”.
“That was upsetting because we should have been taken more seriously.”
She was shocked to learn of Fisher’s 2024 offending and historical convictions, and disgusted he was “still out there doing that, being allowed to teach”.
She felt the school and its current leaders were not to blame, but said the Teaching Council and former school leadership should have done more, and questioned why police weren’t involved after her complaint.
Stratford High’s current principal Cam Stone said he was not at the school during Fisher’s employment and there were limited records to review.
An employment process involving Fisher was conducted by the then-principal from May-July 2014 in response to a complaint from a parent. Stone could not reveal details of the investigation because of privacy but said records showed steps were taken “to address the concerns”.
Stone understood it had always been “regular window glass” in Fisher’s classroom, not mirror glass.
On learning Fisher had been jailed for child abuse, Stone wrote to the school community last week.
“I will do my very best to support anyone with concerns relating to when Mr Fisher was a teacher at our school. I also fully support anyone taking concerns directly to police.”
Teaching Council chief executive Lesley Hoskin defended the agency’s handling of the case, saying “no mistakes were made”.
Ensuring children’s safety was one of the council’s most critical functions, she said.
“We strongly refute any suggestion that the council has acted irresponsibly in the case of Mr Fisher.”
After receiving the police warning in 2014 the council did not grant Fisher a practising certificate until the matter was investigated by the Complaints Assessment Committee and another clear police vet was received.
The council did not alert Stratford High because police vets were confidential and could not be disclosed to third parties, Hoskin said.
“The council’s decisions were carefully considered and consistent with the legislation in force and the information available at the time.”
The council acknowledged the seriousness of the situation and extended its deepest sympathy to those involved.
It commended the courage of those who’d come forward and remained committed to supporting safe practices in the education sector.
Katie Harris is an Auckland-based journalist who covers issues such as sexual assault, workplace misconduct, media, crime and justice. She joined the Herald in 2020.
Lane Nichols is Auckland desk editor for the New Zealand Herald with more than 20 years’ experience in the industry.
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