Teacher grooms girl from age 12, marries her at 22 and is now a registered child sex offender

A middle-aged teacher spent years grooming a girl he met when she was 12, starting a full sexual relationship with her at 16 and marrying her when she was 22.

The marriage did not last long and the woman, who had dropped out of school early and struggled with addiction, moved to Australia.

There, she told her story to the New South Wales Police, leading to charges being laid against the teacher by their New Zealand counterparts.

The man appeared in the Napier District Court this week for sentencing on four representative charges of sexual connection and committing an indecent act with a girl aged 12 to 16.

They dated from 2008 to 2010 when the young woman was underage.

The teacher cannot be named because it would identify the woman, with whom he lived for eight years. She has statutory name suppression.

The man refused to accept he had done anything wrong, taking the matter to a trial, where he was found guilty.

However, Judge Richard Earwaker said the man’s sexualised touching of the girl was “premeditated criminal behaviour” and a breach of trust.

“You were a teacher. She was 12 to 15. You were a person of authority she looked up to.”

He said the teacher met the girl when she arrived for her first year at an Auckland secondary school in 2007.

The teacher, who was then 50, started to pay the girl special attention at school and at a school camp.

He started touching her on her hips and bottom from the age of 13 and kept in contact with her when she moved schools.

Usually, the contact happened outside the school environment and the girl spent more and more time at the teacher’s house. However, the contact happened at least once at the school.

The touching, and later massages, became more sexualised over time and progressed to the point at which she was naked.

They also used cannabis together.

However, the teacher said he would not have sexual intercourse with her until she was 16, otherwise he would go to prison.

When the girl turned 16, she moved in with him and full sexual intercourse began.

Initially, the relationship was secret but her mother found out and, after some time, accepted it.

The teacher and the young woman moved together from Auckland to Hawke’s Bay.

His offending came to light when the woman complained to Australian police in 2021.

The teacher was spoken to by New Zealand police in 2022.

In court on Thursday, Judge Earwaker sentenced the teacher, now in his late 60s, to two years and eight months in prison.

He was also placed on the child sex offender register.

Ric Stevens spent many years working for the former New Zealand Press Association news agency, including as a political reporter at Parliament, before holding senior positions at various daily newspapers. He joined NZME's Open Justice team in 2022 and is based in Hawke's Bay. His writing in the crime and justice sphere is informed by four years of front-line experience as a probation officer.