By 1news.co.nz
A former Blenheim teacher who was jailed for having sex with two underage students engaged in similar behaviour with other older students – performing sex acts, sending nude photos and discussing self-harm.
Content warning: This story discusses self-harm and sexual assault.
Jaimee Marie Cooney was convicted in late 2019 and sentenced to two and a half years in prison for having sexual relations with two 15-year-old boys while teaching at Marlborough Boys’ College, often in car parks.
She pleaded guilty to two counts of having sexual relations with a minor and two charges of sending indecent material. She was released on parole after 10 months.
Now, the full extent of her behaviour has been released by the Teachers Disciplinary Tribunal, which revealed Cooney engaged in sex acts with older students, sent them nude photos and discussed her depression with them, performing self-harm in front of one.
The information released by the tribunal discussed instances of misconduct outside of the 2019 criminal case.
In 2019, Cooney began messaging an 18-year-old boy on Snapchat, asking him about rugby before sending sexual messages – including nude photos.
She would go on to pick the student up in her car, driving him to the side of the road, where she talked about her depression – then touching him inappropriately and performing oral sex.
“(Student) did not know what to do,” the tribunal decision said.
Several days later, the teacher messaged the student saying she needed to talk. He left class and met her in a car near the school.
She spoke of her depression again, going on to touch him inappropriately.
He told her to stop, but Cooney said the boy should stop being a “scaredy cat”.
She later messaged two other students, performing oral sex on them.
Over 2019 Cooney messaged multiple other students, aged 16 and 17, discussing personal struggles, such as suicidal thoughts, personal problems and love.
In one incident, she performed self-harm in front of a student.
She also discussed drugs with others.
The teacher accepted most of the claims saying her self-harm was due to the “extreme mental distress” she was suffering.
Following a tribunal hearing in December 2022, deputy-chair Tim Mackenzie wrote that Cooney’s behaviour was “at the higher end of misconduct.
“There can be no doubt that sexual behaviour with students is at the higher end of serious misconduct,” he said.
“It adversely affects students, reflects adversely on the teacher, and brings the profession into disrepute.
“The conduct here was also clearly of a character and severity to trigger several of the criteria for reporting serious misconduct.”
In 2019, after her conviction, Cooney’s teaching registration was cancelled. However, “If cancellation had not already occurred, the Tribunal would have ordered such,” Mackenzie said.
Cooney has now been censured and will have to pay 40% of the Tribunal’s costs, totalling $6077.49.
