Teacher told girl she was 'first true love'

File photo / Herald on Sunday

A married teacher who sent love letters to a young student saying she was his "first true love" has been banned from teaching.

The man, who has not been named, has been censured for serious misconduct and had his registration cancelled by the Teacher's Council after he was found to have developed an inappropriate relationship with the Year 8 student last year.

He wrote to the girl making statements including "thank you 4 choosing 2 love me and be all mine and 4 caring about me," "being able 2 hold u and kiss u has just been the best feeling" and "u r my first true love".

He also topped up her cellphone with credit and exchanged text messages which became increasingly frequent and sexualised with comments such as "you should have given me a hug" and "I am feeling horny".

In a decision released this week the council said the man arranged a code for ringing the girl at home to ensure she would pick up, arranged for her to come to school early to spend time with him and told her to lie about their relationship. During a camp he invited her into his room and kissed her.

He also refused to talk to the girl if she did not do what he asked of her.

The teacher said he did not accept all of the facts alleged against him but he pleaded guilty to a charge of serious misconduct before the council.

The council said the student's description of how the relationship with the teacher developed was "distressingly familiar".

Although she was not in his class, he showed some favouritism towards her which developed into an exchanging of text messages that quickly turned romantic. The pair then started meeting outside of school and the messages turned sexual.

The relationship was kept a secret from the teacher's wife and the girl's family. She received gifts and letters and there was at least one episode involving intimate physical contact.

"The [man] took advantage of his position as a teacher to ingratiate himself with a young student ... there was a significant amount of manipulative behaviour on his part."

The man, who was stood down from his school late last year, was also ordered to pay nearly $3000 in costs.