A male teacher has denied sending photos of his penis to a 16-year-old student, but admitted sending inappropriate messages, including: "U shw me first".
The Lower Hutt teacher - who has interim name suppression - was accused of sending the girl photographs of himself and explicit images of his genitals during an inappropriate Facebook exchange.
The teacher was asked to tutor the teenage girl in 2013, an arrangement that continued until the end of school year.
Then aged 33, he was a provisionally registered teacher and relieving at a secondary school. The girl was 16 and attending a different secondary school.
The Teachers Council Disciplinary Tribunal decision said in early 2014 the girl contacted the teacher saying she had "fallen in love with him". Regular contact between them followed, primarily on Facebook.
A complaint was made by the girl's parents when they discovered the relationship.
The photographs submitted to the Tribunal included images of the teacher fully clothed, and explicit photos of male genitals.
Late-night messages from the teacher to the girl included: "U shw me first", "I wanna c", and "Nd put yr fone there".
After repeated requests from the girl to "show me nw", she then messaged him saying: "Haha", "scary alien". He responded: "U shd c wn its hard".
The teacher took part in a telephone conference with the tribunal, but did not attend the hearing or file evidence or submissions on his behalf.
The decision said during the telephone conference he emphasised that nothing physical or sexual took place, and the messages were exchanged after she turned 16.
He denied sending the photographs, and said the girl must have accessed his computer or iPad, and that the images of genitals were not his.
The teacher accepted that he had "broken some boundaries" and agreed not to teach until the conclusion of the disciplinary proceeding.
The tribunal said crossing boundaries was a "gross understatement of the position".
Putting aside the question of the photographs, "the Facebook exchange is in itself entirely inappropriate for a 33-year-old teacher to be engaging in with a 16-year-old school girl."
Based on the Facebook messages, it was hard to accept the denial that he and the girl had been exchanging photographs, the tribunal said.
Nevertheless, there was not enough evidence to conclude he had sent the images, and that they were of him.
He was found guilty of serious misconduct, censured and de-registered as a teacher.
