A registered teacher at KingsWay School in Auckland has been censured after accessing pornography on his school-issued laptop on multiple occasions, with the matter coming to light when students viewed the device after he left it unattended in a classroom.
According to a report by Stuff, a Teachers’ Disciplinary Tribunal decision, published online, found that David Lee engaged in “moderately serious misconduct” across several incidents between June 2020 and March 2021.
A forensic review of the laptop, conducted after a complaint was made, identified five occasions where websites were accessed that “could be considered inappropriate for a school computer”. It also found that a search using the words “child+orgasm” had been carried out, Stuff has reported.
The tribunal decision stated that possession of objectionable material on the school-owned laptop was a “knowing breach of the Cyber Safety Agreement”. However, it noted there was no evidence the explicit material had been intentionally saved or viewed at school, and that the students who discovered the browsing history did not open any links or see explicit material.
The issue surfaced in April 2021 when Lee left his laptop unlocked in a classroom. Two students, aged 14 and 15, briefly accessed his browser history and reported it to the school principal. The laptop was then handed over for forensic analysis.
At a disciplinary meeting in May 2021, Lee admitted accessing pornography and said he had been facing personal difficulties. He resigned immediately rather than face dismissal, and a mandatory report was made to the Teaching Council, Stuff has reported.
The tribunal proceedings also examined a separate incident involving a 15-year-old former student. In July 2021, after his resignation, Lee communicated with her via Facebook Messenger after she contacted him saying she wanted to see him. He offered to pick her up, and they met near her home.
According to the decision, the student got into the front passenger seat of his car and he drove her to Orewa and Hatfields Beach, where they sat and talked for about 20 minutes. During the meeting, she asked him about the pornography found on his laptop. Lee confirmed it was true and told her he had not been in a good place, Stuff has reported.
When the student’s father called and discovered she was with the former teacher, he instructed her to return home immediately. Lee dropped her a street away from her house at her request.
In a later statement, the student said she felt uncomfortable and unsafe.
“I just felt unsafe about the general situation where he was taking me-to the beach. I knew it was not very busy there. The general situation bothered me,” as quoted by Stuff.
The following day, Lee sent her a lengthy email acknowledging he had made “dumb decisions”, while also criticising her behaviour and suggesting she did not want help. He referred to the distress the situation had caused his wife and others, the decision said.
The tribunal found the email risked harming the student’s emotional wellbeing.
In its overall findings, the tribunal ruled that the cumulative conduct was “moderately serious”. It imposed censure, ordered an annotation on the teaching register for two years, and placed conditions on any future practising certificate requiring Lee to disclose the decision, according to Stuff.
He was also directed to pay 40% of the tribunal’s costs, amounting to $6297.72.
Both Lee and the school sought name suppression, but the tribunal declined.
“In not suppressing the school’s name, we also alleviate the potential risk of suspicion falling on others if the school is not identified, given the number of teachers on the register who share Mr Lee’s surname,” the decision said.
“Naming Mr Lee alleviates the school’s concern that suspicion may fall on staff who left the school at around the same time.”