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A teacher accused of filming in a Mount Maunganui early childhood centre\u2019s bathroom faces 21 new charges.<\/p>\n
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Police confirmed the new charges relate to recordings of adult victims \u2013 not children.<\/p>\n
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Today, the 53-year-old man appeared before Tauranga community magistrate Sherida Cooper, who granted interim name suppression until his next appearance.<\/p>\n
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This followed an earlier appearance on July 6, where suppression was not sought by the duty lawyer, and the man faced one charge.<\/p>\n
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Lawyer Xu Wang is now representing the man, and said he would need four to six weeks to go through police disclosure before his next appearance, when pleas would be entered.<\/p>\n
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The man will be back at\u00a0Tauranga District Court<\/a>\u00a0on September 3.<\/p>\n
The 21 new charges are of the same nature as the first \u2013 intentionally making intimate visual recordings.<\/p>\n
The charges relate to a range of dates; the earliest alleges a recording took place \u201con or before June 4, 2025\u2033.<\/p>\n
In a statement released last week, police confirmed they received a June 20 report that a recording device had been found in the staff bathroom at a Mount Maunganui early childhood facility.<\/p>\n
Detective Senior Sergeant Natalie Flowerdew-Brown said no children had been identified in the recordings.<\/p>\n
Today, Flowerdew-Brown confirmed the new charges relate to adult victims.<\/p>\n
RNZ earlier reported it had seen an email to parents from the centre on July 6.<\/p>\n
The email said a fulltime teacher was arrested on July 2.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe matter remains the subject of an ongoing police investigation and we have been advised that this will take some time. We are fully co-operating with that police investigation.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhile the investigation is continuing, we do not know the full extent of the matter.\u201d<\/p>\n
The email said all appropriate safety checking, including regular police vetting of the staffer, was undertaken.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe know for some of you that this will come as a shock as he was a popular member of [the] team and well thought of by colleagues.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Teaching Council\u2019s register confirms the man has voluntarily agreed not to teach.<\/p>\n
Hannah\u00a0Bartlett\u00a0is a Tauranga-based Open Justice reporter at NZME. She previously covered court and local government for the Nelson Mail, and before that was a radio reporter at Newstalk ZB.<\/p>\n
Join NZ Herald\u2019s Open Justice team for\u00a0Case by Case<\/a>, a video and podcast series examining disputes and decisions making headlines across New Zealand.<\/p>\n
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