Former Leaving Cert student denies he was groomed by teacher

Irish Times

20 hours ago

A former Leaving Cert student has denied that he was groomed by his teacher or that he was in a romantic relationship with her.
The young man told a fitness-to-teach inquiry that a sexual encounter with the teacher came about by chance in early August 2018.
The inquiry concerns allegations that the teacher, who taught English in a Dublin school, was in a romantic relationship with the then Leaving Cert student, who was 18 years old, during the summer of 2018.
It is further alleged that she and the student exchanged at least one photograph and/or video on the social media app Snapchat on a daily basis from June 14th to June 20th, 2018 while he was sitting his Leaving Cert exams and subsequently until August 14th, while he awaited his results. The teacher denies these allegations.
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The Director of the Teaching Council also alleges that the teacher had a sexual encounter with the student on a date unknown in early August 2018, which the teacher has admitted to.
The former secondary school student, who is now 25 years old, in his evidence for the teacher, outlined that he had 'just a normal teacher-student relationship' with her.
After he finished his Leaving Cert exams he began a retail job in Dublin to allow him to attend university.
He then explained how the sexual encounter with the teacher in August came about. On the date in question he and a number of his then work colleagues went on a social night out.
'It was maybe for a birthday, I think we went to a restaurant and then to a pub or a late bar,' the witness said, and who agreed the group were 'going out, out'.
In the pub the witness noticed the teacher who appeared to be socialising with a group of people.
'I approached [teacher's first name and second name], I think I said 'hello'. We were talking for a good while, maybe 20 minutes, we had a few drinks, I wasn't drunk,' he said.
He thought that there may have been flirting between him and the teacher in the pub and that a connection may have arisen between them there. 'I can't remember if I led her,' he added.
He didn't think anything physical happened between them in the pub and he agreed they both decided to leave the pub together.
'I just remember the air hitting me, we ended up walking to a hotel near where we were, we ended up spending the night together,' he said.
'The next morning [teacher's first name and second name] left before [me], I left … by taxi or bus,' he added.
The witness was also shown screenshots of a Snapchat profile that it was alleged was his, which he denied: 'For my Snapchat I didn't use my full name.'
He was also shown a screenshot of a message that it is alleged that the teacher sent to him on Snapchat, but he responded that he had not used Snapchat since 2016 or 2017 and that he 'never had [the teacher's first name and surname] on Snapchat' or any other social media. He also denied liking any photos on the teacher's social media accounts.
He was further shown screenshots of messages on the Facebook messenger app, allegedly sent between the ex-partner of the teacher and the witness, and which were aggressive and confrontational in nature.
The witness said that he could not remember receiving or sending the messages but he added that he did not know who the teacher's then partner was in August 2018 or that she had a partner at that time.
He said that apart from the sexual encounter in August, the last time he was talking to the teacher was at the end of May 2018 or possibly in the school during the Leaving Cert exams, as there were 'maybe a few people around'.
He also denied that he was ever in the then home of the teacher and her ex-partner or that he spent the night in the teacher's car when she returned from a school trip abroad in late August 2018.
Under cross examination he denied that he would tell an untruth to protect the teacher.
The inquiry will resume at a future date, as yet undecided, to hear evidence from other witnesses on the part of the teacher.