Senior school staffer facing charges against ex-student keeps name secret

Author: NZ Herald,
Publish Date: Thu, 25 Jun 2026, 8:56pm

A man who was working as a senior staff member at a lower North Island secondary school faces four charges of indecent assault and one of strangulation. He will go to trial in October.

A senior school employee accused of sexual offending and violence against a recently-graduated student will keep his name secret until at least the end of his trial.

The member of teaching staff, who is in his 30s, successfully argued he would suffer extreme hardship if his name were allowed to be published in connection to criminal charges he is facing.

The man, who had been working at a lower North Island secondary school before the allegations, was stood down and later resigned from his role after the accusations came out.

He faces four charges of indecent assault and one of strangulation against the complainant, who had graduated from the school weeks before.

The man has pleaded not guilty to all the charges and will go to trial in October.

In court today, defence lawyer Lucie Scott said her client was now unemployed because of the allegations, and that the Teaching Council was aware of them, so there was no suggestion that suppression would help hide the charges from a body that should know about them.

“If he is named now ... [the allegations] will stick to him irreversibly, regardless of the outcome of trial,” she said.

The teaching community relied on reputation, and even if he were found not guilty his ability to gain employment or progress his career would be affected if he was named, which she said amounted to extreme hardship.

She also argued his rights to a fair trial would be prejudiced if his name were to be published now.

The Crown prosecutor Anselm Williams said any publication would indicate he had pleaded not guilty.

He said that every day of the week defendants had their names published in relation to similar charges but were still able to have fair trials, and this case was no different.

Williams noted the complainant opposed interim name suppression.

Judge David Laurenson said the man’s affidavit said even small rumours in the schooling community could be “devastating to career progression”.

“Immense prejudice flows from allegations of this type, especially for a male teacher,” it said.

The judge said he was satisfied there was a real and appreciable risk the man was likely to suffer extreme hardship if he was named and he would struggle to teach again in the future.

He granted the interim name suppression order, which would be reviewed again at trial.