A female Dilworth teacher has been barred from the profession after having sexual relationships with two students.

Julia Brown was teaching at Dilworth as recently as 2021, but Stuff understands the two relationships which are the subject of a Teachers Disciplinary Tribunal happened some years before.

In its partially redacted decision, released publicly on Wednesday, the Tribunal found Brown had sexual relationships with the students over months.

Brown was first registered as a teacher in 1991 and began teaching at Dilworth four years later.

Her first sexual relationship with one student happened on an overseas school trip. She and two other teachers were supervisors on the trip.

“Over the course of the trip, [the student] grew close to Ms Brown… They began to sit next to each other on trains and buses.”

One night, the pair sat together on a hotel roof and had a conversation where Brown was said to divulge “deeply personal matters”.

The student gave Brown a back massage in her room, they drank wine together and kissed. They held hands as they strolled through a town and two other students saw them cuddling on a park bench.

The Tribunal says the student began visiting Brown in her hotel room late at night and early in the morning.

Two boys “suspicious of [the student’s] prolonged absence, peered through the lock on Ms Brown’s bedroom door and saw the two cuddling on a bed.”

The relationship left the student “racked by shame and anxiety”.

Brown had another sexual relationship with a sixth former soon afterwards.

The Tribunal said while it did not have evidence directly from the student, it did have statements from his partner and a friend, both of whom he had confided in.

The Tribunal said the relationship likely began after the student visited Brown at home, on the pretext of fixing her video player.

The pair were said to have had sex on the night before his 17th birthday.

Brown wrote him love letters and gave him a pair of her underwear.

She is also said to have sat next to him in class while the pair touched each other “sexually” under the desks.

“[The student] decided matters had become out of hand and ended the relationship before form seven.”

The Tribunal said the relationship had a “major impact” on the student after he left Dilworth, but details are redacted.

Brown, swore an affidavit with the Tribunal but did not want to take part in the process.

The Tribunal noted that while she accepted “a lot of the narrative”, she denies the “pointed relationship and sexual allegations”.

She sought to explain away the back massage by saying: “Various people gave each other shoulder rubs after a long day with the backpacks”. And: “We may have gone for a walk and sat on a bench, but I deny kissing him…”.

The Tribunal said her explanations show increasing “contact” that developed into an “erosion of professional boundaries”.

The Tribunal did not accept her explanations.

It determined that despite the first relationship happening after the student had left the school, the initial “contact” was made in the context of a student-teacher relationship.

“We conclude without hesitation that Ms Brown is not of good character nor fit to be a teacher.”

The Tribunal cancelled her registration and ordered her to pay half the costs of the Tribunal and prosecution, a total of $6307.57.

Brown’s bid for permanent name suppression on the grounds she has an elderly mother and it would cause her “distress” was also declined.

“They do not overcome the public interest in open justice,” the Tribunal ruled. “Professionals should think of such issues before committing serious misconduct.”

Dilworth’s principal Dan Reddiex said in a statement that Brown was stood down in Maqrch 2021 when the school learnt of the Teaching Council complaint. The folloiwing year, one of the students contacted the school to tell them of the sexual relationship and Brown was sacked.

“We honour the courage of the former student who made the complaint.”

Reddiex said another teacher has been suspended and is facing Teaching Council action but he cannot comment further on the case.

“As a result the teacher is no longer employed by the school.”

Where to get help for sexual violence

• Rape Crisis 0800 88 33 00, click link for local helplines.
• Victim Support 0800 842 846.
• Safetalk text 4334, webchat safetotalk.nz or email support@safetotalk.nz.
• The Harbour Online support and information for people affected by sexual abuse.
• Women’s Refuge 0800 733 843
• Male Survivors Aotearoa Helplines across NZ, click to find out more (males only).
• If you or someone else is in immediate danger, call 111.

If you or someone you know is in a dangerous situation, click the Shielded icon at the bottom of this website to contact Women’s Refuge in a safe and anonymous way without it being traced in your browser history. If you’re in our app, visit the mobile website here to access Shielded.