A female teacher at Auckland's Dilworth School has been struck off the teacher’s register, after her sexual relationships with two students three decades ago came to light.
The discovery was made in 2020 after police began investigating historical sexual abuse at the school.
It’s alleged Julia Brown, who began teaching at the school in 1995, when she was in her late 30s, had a sexual relationship with a former Form Seven (Year 13) student.
The relationship began after Brown accompanied recently graduated Dilworth students on an overseas trip, according to a report released today by the New Zealand Teachers Disciplinary Tribunal.
Over the course of the trip, the student grew close to his former teacher, “possibly in the context of him feeling homesick”.
While it began with sitting next to each other on trains and buses, the relationship developed further, with Brown stroking her former student’s hair.
In another instance, the teacher confided in the student about “deeply personal matters” while sitting on the rooftop of a hotel.
The relationship escalated further when part of the group, including Brown and the student, extended the tour, during which the student gave Brown a back massage in her hotel room.
It was followed by another instance where the pair “drank wine, kissed and walked through town holding hands”. Two students who had grown suspicious of their relationship witnessed the pair cuddling on a bench.
The relationship then turned sexual, with the student visiting the teacher in her hotel room “early in the morning and late at night”, where they would perform oral sex on each other.
A pair of teachers suspicious of the student’s absences “peered through the lock on Ms Brown’s bedroom door and saw the two cuddling on a bed”.
The group flew back to New Zealand several days later, with the pair holding hands for part of the plane ride.
While the student and teacher had “a few brief meetings in the following year”, the relationship did not continue, the tribunal said.
“However, it had a lasting and very significant impact on Student One, who was racked by shame and anxiety about what had occurred.”
She also allegedly had a sexual relationship with a Form Six (Year 12) student, according to statements from the student's partner after he left the school and a close friend during his time at Dilworth.
The relationship “most likely” began when the second student, who was taught by Brown, visited her house under the “pretext” of fixing her video player.
The relationship subsequently developed over several months, during which it’s alleged the pair had sexual intercourse “several times” and played a “sexual game” on the night before the student’s 17th birthday.
Brown also wrote love letters to the student and gave him a pair of her underwear.
In another instance, Brown sat next to the student in class, where they began “touching each other sexually underneath the desks”.
The student ended the relationship before beginning Form Seven (Year 13) after he decided “matters had become out of hand”.
“The relationship had a major impact upon him after leaving Dilworth,” the tribunal said.
In their report, the tribunal said the teacher “accepts a lot of the narrative” but denied the “more pointed relationship and sexual allegations”.
In her statements, Brown said she and the first student “did gradually develop a closeness” but maintained that she had stayed back with him at the hotel as he was unwell, and that the back massage was a common occurrence among the group.
Brown denied being alone with him in a wine bar and said while they “may have gone out for a walk and sat on a bench, I deny kissing him”.
She said the student called her after the pair arrived back in New Zealand, after which Brown took him to a beach “where I told him that he needed to be with people his own age, that he’d meet like-minded people on his course and that while we had got close on the trip, this would no longer be appropriate”.
“This demonstrates to us, to begin with, increasing personal contact and erosion of professional boundaries,” the tribunal said.
“We do not accept Ms Brown’s denials of the alleged conduct… We consider that the denials that persist are best explained as something that Ms Brown simply must and will maintain.”
The tribunal concluded "without hesitation that Ms Brown is not of good character nor fit to be a teacher".
"On the facts of this case, we consider that no outcome short of cancellation is appropriate for this level of conduct and we so order."
Brown, who is now 66 years old, has had her registration cancelled.
She has also been ordered to pay costs of $6307.60, or half of the costs for the investigation and tribunal decision.
Dilworth headmaster responds
In a statement this evening, Dilworth School headmaster Dan Reddiex said Brown was "immediately suspended" and had not attended or taught at the school since March 2021, when the school was alerted to a complaint to the Teaching Council regarding alleged historical sexual abuse.
“Subsequently, in May 2022, when the school received a complaint from the former student who had been abused, we immediately commenced an independent investigation,” he said.
“Based on the findings by the independent investigator, we believed there were grounds to terminate Ms Brown’s employment at Dilworth, which we did.”
He said the school was not aware of the second complaint against Brown due to confidentiality reasons “until the tribunal’s findings and decision were issued today”.
Reddiex also acknowledged the “courage” of the former student who made the initial complaint.
“While he was legally an adult at the time of the offending, Ms Brown was entrusted with his care as his teacher.”
He said the school “is committed to providing a safe, caring and nurturing learning and living environment, to ensure the wellbeing and prevent the harm of tamariki, rangatahi, their whānau/family and staff. This is our single greatest priority and responsibility”.
“I encourage any student or former student, whānau or family member with concerns about Ms Brown or any other safety matter to raise them with me directly.”
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