Sex offender teacher pleads guilty; named

How the sex offender came to be working at the school with the knowledge of authorities will be included in a Ministerial inquiry. Photo / Thinkstock

A convicted sex offender at the centre of a ministerial inquiry for teaching in primary and secondary schools has pleaded guilty to 11 charges and can now be named.

Terito Henry Miki appeared at the Auckland District Court today where he pleaded guilty to seven charges of using a document for a pecuniary advantage and four counts of breaching a supervision order.

Miki also faces a charge of forgery which was laid today. He is yet to enter a plea to that charge and is due back in court in May for sentencing.

The schools where Miki taught using aliases have been suppressed but a legal argument relating to suppression orders will take place next Friday.

Miki was convicted in 2004 on three counts of indecent assault and two of common assault on a 14-year-old and was sentenced to two years in jail.

A warrant for his arrest was granted in May 2004 and he allegedly evaded arrest until late 2009.

In 2010 he was issued with a renewed supervision order but it appeared he trained as a teacher, obtained provisional teacher registration under a new name until August 2013 and managed to secure teaching positions.

The man was provisionally registered as a teacher. Provisional teachers are fully registered after two years of teaching, with an induction and mentoring programme provided by a fully registered mentor teacher.

In his last teaching role, the man taught 5- and 6-year-olds.

He was arrested on February 21 for breaching his extended supervision, which prohibited him being around persons under 16.