By Ric Stevens, Open Justice reporter
Warning: This article describes sexual offending against children and may be distressing for some people.
A once-trusted teacher is beginning a jail sentence as a registered child sex offender after pleading guilty to charges involving five of his students.
Matthew Ireland, 27, stood in the dock of the Napier District Court today as parents and school principals decried his “shocking, premeditated and vile” offending.
One of his victims, in words read to the court by his mother, said he had gone from being “genuinely happy” at school to feeling “stupid, vulnerable and unsafe”.
“I was 9 years old. I didn’t know anything about sexuality,” the boy said.
“I didn’t know that what he was discussing with me was inappropriate at the time.”
Another mother described a “horrific” betrayal of trust by a teacher who was “hiding in plain sight” and who sometimes socialised with the families of his victims.
“Imagine how my son felt seeing his mum sitting with his abuser,” the woman said.
Ireland worked at Port Ahuriri School in Napier during 2022 and then, after a holiday overseas, was a relief teacher at several other schools before taking up a job at Havelock North Intermediate in 2023.
He was stood down by Havelock North Intermediate in 2024 after his offending came to light.
Pleaded guilty to 12 charges
He later pleaded guilty to eight charges of sexual conduct with a child under 12 and four charges of sexual conduct with a child under 16.
The offending he was convicted for involved five boys.
A Crown summary of facts said Ireland was twice seen by another teacher with children sitting on his knee during lunch breaks.
He was spoken to by a senior teacher after these incidents and was told “what he had done was inappropriate and that he was putting himself at risk as a young male teacher”.
The senior teacher also spoke to Ireland several times about being alone with students.
Spoke to students about relationships and bodies
The summary said one day, Ireland spoke to students in his class about relationships and their bodies.
After class, he offered to teach one boy more in one-on-one sessions, during which he got the child to remove clothing. Ireland then touched him indecently.
The boy did not tell anyone about this until two years later when he told his parents, who called police.
In the meantime, Ireland had interactions with other boys, including getting them to remove their clothing to get “measurements” and take photographs.
He brushed his hand across one boy’s buttocks several times.
He told one boy he was his “favourite” and bought him gifts.
He tried to discuss sex education with this boy, but the child said only his class teacher was allowed to discuss those matters and told Ireland that.
Electronic devices seized
Police seized several electronic devices from Ireland 24 hours after he was stood down by Havelock North Intermediate.
One of the parents, however, said that in that time he had put his phone and computer through “factory resets”, which would have erased their contents.
Several witnesses described Ireland’s offending as grooming. One mother questioned where it would have ended.
“How dare you take photos of my partially naked son,” she said.
“How dare you groom him. How far was this going to go? What did you have planned if this hadn’t been stopped?”
Judge Bridget Mackintosh said Ireland’s offending had lasting and profound impacts on the school communities.
“The ripple effect has been devastating,” she said.
Judge Mackintosh imposed a sentence of three years in prison and placed Ireland’s name on the child sex offender register.
Port Ahuriri School principal Glenn France said Ireland had caused “deep harm”, shattering the trust that was the foundation of every relationship within a school.
Ireland’s behaviour had been deliberate and calculated, and it was essential that he not be allowed into a position of responsibility in the future.
‘Removed from the community’
“We firmly believe he cannot be trusted in any environment where children are present,” France said.
“The ideal outcome … is that he is removed from the community.”
Havelock North Intermediate principal Nigel Messervy said Ireland’s breach of trust was “devastating” for the students, their families and school staff.
He said it had been the “most difficult time of my career” and the school had diverted $70,000 from teaching and learning to spend on investigations and legal processes.
“This offending has contributed to widespread distrust of teachers, particularly male teachers,” Messervy said.
SEXUAL HARM
Where to get help:
If it’s an emergency and you feel that you or someone else is at risk, call 111.
If you’ve ever experienced sexual assault or abuse and need to talk to someone, contact Safe to Talk confidentially, any time 24/7:
• Call 0800 044 334
• Text 4334
• Email support@safetotalk.nz
• For more info or to web chat visit safetotalk.nz
Alternatively contact your local police station.
If you have been sexually assaulted, remember it’s not your fault.
