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 as reported by local news outlet Stuff, the sexual relationships took a few years before.
In its partially redacted decision, released publicly on Wednesday, the Teachers Disciplinary Tribunal found Brown, a teacher at Dilworth School since 1995, had sexual relationships with the students over months.
Brown’s First Sexual Relationship Started on Overseas School Trip
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.”
Second Relationship Started After Student Visited Brown’s Home to Fix Her Video Player
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.
Tribunal: Brown ‘Not of Good Character Nor Fit to be a Teacher’
While Brown denied the sexual allegations, the Tribunal did not accept her explanations. “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.
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.
