Deputy principal seeks forgiveness for affair with schoolgirl

Wayne Allan Frewen is asking for forgiveness. Photo / Supplied

A deputy principal who began a relationship with a schoolgirl while she was in his mentoring programme says he hopes the girl will eventually forgive him.

Wayne Allan Frewen has been struck off the teachers' register after the Teachers Disciplinary Tribunal found he was guilty of "serious misconduct" by having the affair with a girl who was aged 17 and 18 in her final year of school when the relationship began.

The girl told the tribunal last November that she was "now on antidepressants to help with suicidal thoughts" after Frewen dumped her and began a relationship with another woman with whom he now has a 16-month-old daughter.

Frewen resigned from the college when the girl's mother discovered the affair and is no longer working as a teacher. The name of the college has been suppressed.

He has issued a statement today saying he was deeply sorry "if I have caused her harm".

"It is with deep remorse and regret that I accept the tribunal's finding that I formed an inappropriate friendship with a 17-year-old student in the course of her final year at school," he said.

"My actions have brought shame on myself and my family and will haunt me for the rest of my life.

"Teaching was what I loved. For 15 years it was my life and my passion. My record was exemplary. I have accepted that I have thrown that all away and will never teach again.

"I deeply regret my actions and took the opportunity during the tribunal hearing to convey my deep and sincere apologies to the student.

"If I have caused her harm then i am deeply sorry. I can only hope that she will one day be able to forgive me for my actions and move on with her life.

"I do want to stress that it was only after the student had turned 18, left school and was attending university that our relationship became sexual.

"I am not seeking to minimise the seriousness of my lapse of judgement, but people need to know that this was a relationship between two consenting adults, albeit an ill-advised and inappropriate one.

"I would like to give an absolute assurance that I pose no danger to young people. The particular circumstances that have led to this public humiliation will never be repeated again.

"The incidents that led to the tribunal happened some five years ago. I ask for forgiveness and can only hope that my partner and young family are not victimised or held to account for events that I was solely responsible for."