An elite Christchurch school concedes it should have stood down one of its staff as soon as concerns surfaced about his inappropriate behaviour towards a teenage girl.
Instead, Taurapa, formerly Connor Taurapa Matthews, was able to continue in his role as a tutor at Christ’s College in Christchurch for more than two and a half years, a decision that’s been called “completely unacceptable” and “shameful”.
“I think the school really dropped the ball. They should have done a lot more to protect other students,” a staffer who helped expose the teacher’s serious misconduct says.
On Monday, Stuff revealed Taurapa had been struck off the teaching register after the Teachers Disciplinary Tribunal found he’d had a sexual relationship with a 16-year-old student, and groomed another teenager.
He was employed by two elite schools at the same time. From 2018 to April 2019 he was a te reo Māori teacher at Rangi Ruru Girls’ School. During that period he was also live-in house tutor at Christ’s College.
The severe abuse of his position as a teacher took place at both schools.
In February 2019, Christ’s College was alerted to concerns about SnapChat messages Taurapa had been sending a girl, known as Ms Y, who worked part-time for a contractor at the school. The school did nothing about it.
Then, a month later, Taurapa’s relationship with 16-year-old Rangi Ruru student Helena Dray – who’s waived her right to anonymity – was exposed by two Christ’s College staffers who’d become suspicious...
Weather Alert Tornado Watch: Benton County, Carroll County, Decatur County, Henry County Clarksville clinic agrees to False Claims Act settlement Clarksville clinic agrees to False Claims Act sett...