By JO-MARIE BROWN
A North Shore teacher caught with 1000 child pornography images on his home computer has been fined $1100, with his former school now moving to have him struck off the teachers' register.
John Ferguson Lawrence, who taught at Glenfield Intermediate from January to September last year, admitted one
charge of possessing objectionable material and one of possessing cannabis when he appeared in the Auckland District Court yesterday.
An anonymous tip-off led police to search his Browns Bay home last September.
They found about 1000 computer images and film clips of naked boys - some as young as 5 - in suggestive poses or engaging in sex.
During their search police also uncovered hundreds of photographs of young surf lifesaving boys dressed only in togs.
Although the pictures were not considered objectionable, Lawrence, aged 39, was an instructor at a surf lifesaving club at the time.
Glenfield Intermediate principal John Hitchcock said Lawrence had taught a year eight class of 12-year-olds but had not behaved inappropriately around them.
"There was nothing untoward that we could detect. The police search found he hadn't been involved with any boys in relation to the school," Mr Hitchcock said.
The Teacher Registration Board had been told of Lawrence's arrest and the school's Board of Trustees was "more than likely" to write and request that he be deregistered.
Lawrence was only provisionally registered because he had been teaching for less than two years.
Since 1999, the number of teachers reported to the registration board has almost trebled.
In the year to June, 29 requests were received from schools to deregister teachers - 13 for sexual offences and two concerning internet pornography.
Board director Dr John Langley said that unless a teacher had been convicted of a criminal offence carrying a maximum penalty of 12 months' jail or more, schools had to complain before it could act.
