Taurapa was allowed to continue working at Christ's College after concerns were raised about his conduct. Photo: Stuff / Alden Williams
An elite school has apologised after an independent investigation revealed a series of failings in its handling of allegations about a disgraced teacher.
It comes as Stuff has learned Taurapa is now working in a senior role for a government agency.
Taurapa, formerly Connor Taurapa Matthews, was struck off the teaching register last year after the Teachers Disciplinary Tribunal found he had a sexual relationship with a student and groomed another.
The abuse of his position happened in Christchurch in 2018 and 2019 while he was a te reo teacher at Rangi Ruru Girls' School and a live-in house tutor at Christ's College.
Taurapa's serious misconduct was exposed after two whistleblowers complained about his behaviour in March 2019. He resigned from his position at Rangi Ruru the following month, but was allowed to continue in his house tutor role at Christ's College for more than two-and-a-half years.
During that time, the whistleblowers, who worked at the boys' school, felt intimidated by Taurapa, and were asked to sign contracts agreeing to stay away from him where possible.
After details of the case were revealed by Stuff in 2023, Christ's College conceded it should have stood Taurapa down as soon as concerns were raised about his conduct, and it launched an independent investigation into all aspects of his employment.
In revealing a summary of the investigation's findings on Thursday, the school apologised to the victims of Taurapa's inappropriate behaviour and the whistleblowers.
"Our thoughts remain with the survivors of Taurapa's abuse. We acknowledge their strength in giving evidence to the Teaching Council investigation and are profoundly sorry that they were not safe from him whilst on our campus," Christ's College board chair Hugh Lindo said in a statement posted on the school's website.
"We also recognise the role of our two staff who initiated the complaints against Taurapa. We thank them for their courage in making the original complaints and apologise to them for the difficulties they experienced because Taurapa remained on our campus."
The investigation, conducted by barrister Janna McGuigan, found the school failed in its handling of allegations related to the grooming victim - a 17-year-old student, known as Ms Y, who worked on campus part-time for a contractor.
Stuff previously reported that Christ's College was alerted in February 2019 to concerns about SnapChat messages Taurapa had sent the girl, but took no action against him.
"Communication, documentation, and disclosure of Taurapa's behaviour within the school was poor especially in relation to Taurapa's inappropriate behaviour with Ms Y that should have been reported to the Teaching Council," McGuigan's investigation found.
While Christ's College did everything it could to raise allegations about Taurapa's inappropriate relationship with 16-year-old Rangi Ruru student Helena Dray, it failed the whistleblowers.
Helena Dray waived her name suppression to speak out about Taurapa. Photo: SUPPLIED / STUFF
The school should have conducted its own investigation into his behaviour, and considered standing him down in the meantime, the investigation found.
"We did not comply with our health and safety obligations in respect of our two staff and left them in a vulnerable and unacceptable situation whilst Taurapa remained on our campus," Lindo said.
The investigation also found the school's "recruitment and induction process" for live-in tutors was too informal when Taurapa was employed in 2018.
McGuigan made a number of recommendations, many of which Lindo said had already been implemented as a result of the school's work with Child Matters - a charity specialising in preventing abuse and neglect.
Child Matters had audited Christ's College's recruitment "policies and procedures", and "confirmed that our current child protection framework is robust and adhering to best practice".
"The Child Matters review provides assurances that gaps in our recruitment processes that existed when former teacher Andrew Maclennan was employed, have also been closed."
Maclennan, a former teacher and sports coach, had a past secret relationship with a female teenage athlete from another school, which was also revealed last year in a separate Teachers Disciplinary Tribunal decision.
Last month Christ College's principal Garth Wynne announced he was leaving at the end of term two - a decision a spokesperson for the school said was not connected to the scandal involving Taurapa.
On Thursday, Te Puni Kōkiri, the Government's principal policy advisor on Māori wellbeing and development, confirmed it employed Taurapa in December on a 12-month fixed-term role as a senior advisor in its "Māori capability team".
"The role of the Māori capability team is to build and enhance the cultural capability of Te Puni Kōkiri kaimahi," Grace Smith, the agency's deputy secretary of regional partnerships and operations, said.
"I am confident that Te Puni Kōkiri followed a robust recruitment process, and Taurapa has the right skills, knowledge and experience to fill this specialist role."
Taurapa's relationship with Dray - who waived name suppression - was exposed after the whistleblowers became suspicious of his behaviour, and one of them photographed his car parked outside her home late at night.
After resigning from Rangi Ruru, he taught at two other schools, and was elected to one of their boards, before joining Stuff as a te reo translator in mid-2022. He no longer works for the media company.
The Teaching Council could have asked Taurapa to stand down from teaching in 2019 when it received a mandatory report about his behaviour, but chose not to.
At the time, he denied any wrongdoing. It wasn't until Dray provided an affidavit to the council earlier this year that the full extent of their relationship became clear.
In her affidavit, she said that after messaging her privately via SnapChat, he bought her a 16th birthday present, gave her poetry and sent her messages almost every day, including naked videos and photos of himself, before they eventually performed sex acts on each other in his car one day as he drove her home from a school activity.
Previously one of the whistleblowers told Stuff that Christ's College's decision to allow Taurapa to continue working there as a house tutor defied belief and was part of the reason he eventually quit the school.
He said he and his colleague felt intimidated by Taurapa, who he alleged shoulder-barged them outside the school and stared them down.
When the school suggested the trio sign contracts agreeing to avoid each other where possible it made him feel like he and his fellow complainant "were the bad guys".
The Teaching Council has conceded it was wrong to allow Taurapa to continue teaching while under investigation.
After the damning details of his misconduct were made public, the watchdog reviewed all 27 cases of alleged inappropriate relationships on its books, and asked three teachers down while they were under investigation.
Taurapa was employed as a te reo translator at Stuff in July 2022, but left shortly before the revelations about his time as a teacher were made public.
Previously Stuff's chief people officer Annamarie Jamieson wouldn't comment about what vetting was done when Taurapa was hired, other than to say that the company "has a comprehensive recruitment process".
"When new information relating to any employee comes to light, regardless of timing, we take swift and appropriate action."
-This story was first published by Stuff.