Convicted teacher may face action

Press, 9 March 1984, Page 2

Convicted teacher may face action

The schoolteacher who was convicted last week of using obscene language over the telephone, and burglary, will probably face disciplinary action by the Education Department

Mr Brian Gainsford, the department’s regional superintendent in Christchurch, said the Education Act required the names of all teachers convicted of criminal offences to be reported to the department’s head office in Wellington. Any action was decided by head office, he said. Sentencing of the teacher was deferred by Judge Bradford .last Friday for two weeks to allow defence counsel, Mr G. N. Nation, to inform the Education £epartment of the offences. Mr Gainsford said yesterday that Mr Nation had not yet been in touch with the department in Christchurch. Judge Bradford’s action in deferring sentence and continuing the suppression of the teacher’s name until the department was notified did not have a precedent, he said.

Judge Bradford said he would grant a final suppression of the man’s name to protect his family if the facts were reported to the department by Mr Nation. Under Section 157 and 158

of the Education Act it was the responsibility of the department’s head office to investigate the circumstances if a teacher was convicted of a criminal offence. Action, depended on the sentence of the Court and the offence.

In his explanation for deferring sentence, Judge Bradford said the offences arose from the defendant’s “sexual deviancy.” There was “quite serious public concern” about the identity of persons in a public position who were charged with offences such as those facing the teacher, he said. The Education Department has banned 17 schoolteachers in the last 10 years for being convicted for sexual offences involving children,, reports the Press Association from Wellington. ' The department said-yes-

terday it viewed such cases . seriously and teachers blacklisted were hbt allowed to teach again - in State or integrated schools. Although the ban did not include private schools, the “grapevines in teaching service” would ensure that the teachers did not get a job at these schools either, the spokesman said. As well'as these blacklisted teachers, the department has a “yellow list” of teachers who may no longer be suitable in classrooms. It serves as a flag to employing bodies that the department has information about the teachers which may be relevant before boards make an appointment

The Hamilton Education Board said on Wednesday that it had not made progress in its battle to discover the identity of a teacher who was back in the classroom after being twice convicted of offences involving children. ' The board cannot officially determine the man’s name because it was supE*d by a District Court in Auckland. The has written to a teacher whom it believes could be the offender.