A teacher accused of filming in a Mount Maunganui early childhood centre bathroom has appeared in Tauranga District Court today, where he was granted continued interim name suppression and remanded without plea.
The 53-year-old man is facing a total of 22 charges of intentionally making intimate visual recordings of other people.
The maximum penalty is three years' imprisonment.
The man appeared before Tauranga community magistrate Sherida Cooper, who granted continued interim name suppression until his next appearance.
Lawyer Xu Wang, who is representing the teacher, asked that he continue to be remanded without plea, which was allowed.
The 22 charges related to a range of dates of alleged offending, the earliest being "on or before June 19, 2025", while the most recent was in June of this year.
Police confirmed to 1News a recording device was located in the staff bathroom at an early childcare education facility on June 30.
"No children have been identified in any of the recordings," Detective Senior Sergeant Natalie Flowerdew-Brown said.
The man will appear back in Tauranga District Court on October 28, where he is expected to enter a plea.
Family of children at the kindergarten were emailed by the principal on July 6, explaining that the full-time teacher (who at the time did not have name suppression) had been arrested by police.
The principal said the kindergarten were fully cooperating with the police investigation and “endeavouring to be as open and accurate as possible without jeopardising the investigation and criminal processes”.
“I can advise that all appropriate safety checking, including regular police vetting of [the teacher] was undertaken,” the letter read, as seen by 1 News.
“We know for some of you that this will come as a shock as he was a popular member of [the] team.”
In a message this week to family and staff, the principal added they are “disappointed that interim name suppression has been continued”.
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