A relief teacher had opened his home to international students for 15 years. But after he caressed a young student’s legs and kissed her on the forehead as he tucked her into bed, he told the Teacher’s Disciplinary Tribunal he would no longer have homestay students in his home.

The teacher, who has name suppression, was investigated by the Complaints Assessment Committee and later appeared before the tribunal after the homestay student told her friends about the incident, initially believing it was normal.

Now the tribunal has censured the teacher, with chairman Tim Makenzie saying in a recently released decision that the teacher had also decided he would no longer teach.

“The simple point is that an elder male teacher has acted in this way toward a vulnerable female foreign child staying at his home.

“[The teacher] presents as remorseful and as having taken full responsibility for his behaviour. He has attended suitable counselling and has chosen to no longer practise as a teacher. He has also determined to no longer have homestay students.”

At the time of the incident, the teacher was employed as a relief teacher. The school’s name is suppressed.

For the past 15 years, the teacher, his wife and their children had provided homestay accommodation for international students.

On arriving in New Zealand in January 2024, two students, who have name suppression, stayed for three nights at the teacher’s home before moving into the school’s hostel.

At the request of the two students, it was agreed with the school that they would stay at the teacher’s address for the weekend of February 9 to 11 that year.

On the night of February 10, the teacher, his wife and the students watched a movie. The wife then went to bed, leaving the students and teacher alone.

Around the time the movie was finishing, the teacher noticed one of the students had fallen asleep on the couch.

He reached across and shook her foot to wake her and told her that the film had about 10 minutes left.

She remained where she was, and the teacher began to touch her right leg from her ankle to above her knee.

He then moved to her left leg and repeated the motions, touching her skin on both legs.

She told the tribunal she thought the teacher was giving her a gentle massage and thought the touching was very soft.

The other student got up and went to bed at 11.30pm, but the student said she felt unable to leave the room as the teacher continued touching her.

The teacher began watching something else on TV and the student fell back asleep.

When the teacher tried to wake her at midnight, he moved to where she was sitting and combed her hair with his fingers, then stroked the side of her chin a couple of times with the back of his hand, while holding one of her hands.

The student told the tribunal she felt uncomfortable.

They then went to her bedroom, where he tucked her into bed, took her phone from her hands and put it on the bedside table, then kissed her on the forehead.

He then combed her hair with his fingers briefly before leaving the room.

The student told the tribunal she spoke with other homestay students and, on realising the teacher’s conduct was not normal, reported the incident to an international homestay student agent.

Both students have since returned to their home country.

As well as censuring the man, the tribunal ruled he must provide any current or prospective employer in the teaching profession a copy of the tribunal’s decision for two years.

He was also ordered to pay more than $2000 in costs.