James Cook High School teacher Seelandran Ramiah. Photo / George Novak
James Cook High School teacher Seelandran Ramiah. Photo / George Novak
An assistant principal who gave several of his female students sex toys at school and sent them naked pictures of himself is before the courts awaiting sentencing for offending against a young person.
Seelandran Ramiah had his teaching registration cancelled yesterday after the extent of his attempted relationships with three female students and a colleague at James Cook High in Auckland became the subject of disciplinary action.
However, the disciplinary action is not the end of the matter for the disgraced assistant principal, who had name suppression until earlier this year.
Ramiah is also before Manukau District Court awaiting sentencing on a charge of doing an indecent act on a young person under the age of 16 and a charge of indecent communication with a young person under the age of 16.
His lawyer John Mather would not confirm today whether those charges are related to matters outlined in the tribunal’s findings or refer to separate incidents.
James Cook High School’s principal Tina Filipo said in a statement published to its website after name suppression was lifted that Ramiah was facing charges in relation to “sexual conduct” towards a former student.
“We appreciate this will be very upsetting for our community as Mr Ramiah had been a trusted and long-serving member of our school since the early 2000s,” she said.
“Our priority is supporting any former/current students and families who have been affected by Mr Ramiah and his offending. We are committed to protecting the privacy of anyone impacted.
“There may be a range of emotions as we come to terms with this news as a community. We are also aware that sometimes issues like this can bring trauma to the surface – whether related or unrelated to this former teacher.”
Filipo said the school had sought for the suppression of its name to be lifted in the courts so the school could communicate openly about the issue and put in place support for those who needed it.
The Teachers’ Disciplinary Tribunal’s findings described how Ramiah began messaging a Year 12 student between 2020 and 2022 telling her that he loved her.
He also asked that she keep their communications a secret and they exchanged thousands of text messages, many of them of a sexual nature. He gave the girl a sex toy to take home with her and encouraged her to use it.
He attempted to contact another student in her final year of high school via the messaging app Signal but she didn’t engage. He also asked if she wanted to use a sex toy he had brought with him to school.
Ramiah offered to send a third student pictures of himself masturbating and told a female staff member he wanted to pursue a relationship with her, as well as sending her photos of his penis.
Ramiah was placed on leave in March 2022 when then-principal Grant McMillan found out about the messages he’d been sending to the first student.
The matter was then referred to the tribunal, which yesterday described his conduct to each of the women as “gross breaches of trust and abuse of his position of responsibility”.
“Mr Ramiah’s conduct involved more than one student, apparently for his own sexual gratification and regardless of the students’ wellbeing.
“He was persistent and forced his demands on the students despite them expressing discomfort.”
Jeremy Wilkinson is an Open Justice reporter based in Manawatū covering courts and justice issues with an interest in tribunals. He has been a journalist for nearly a decade and has worked for NZME since 2022.
