David Benson-Pope - Allegations of Misconduct As A Teacher

Allegations of Misconduct As A Teacher

In May 2005 Benson-Pope stood down from cabinet after allegations that he had physically abused students while teaching at Bayfield High School in the 1980s. The allegations included charges he stuffed a tennis-ball in a student's mouth and taped his hands to a desk, threw tennis balls at students' heads, caned a student until he bled, and smacked a student in the face with the back of his hand on a school camp, making his nose bleed. Benson-Pope strongly denied the accusations, but Helen Clark temporarily relieved him of his portfolios. When the Speaker Margaret Wilson decided that the privileges committee had no case to address, Benson-Pope regained all his former portfolios apart from Associate Minister of Education.

In November 2005 the media reported that no prosecution would take place – despite police finding there was a prima facie case that he had assaulted students.

Investigate magazine in February 2006 published further allegations of improper behaviour during Benson-Pope's teaching days. It said he forced students to stand outside for lengthy periods in their nightwear for misbehaviour during a school camp in the 1980s. An update on the magazine's website also claimed that Benson-Pope had entered the female dormitory and showers in 1997 while 14-year-old girls were undressed. Benson-Pope dismissed the allegations as nonsense.

Parents complained about these and other incidents, and the school headmaster at the time says he discussed the complaints with Benson-Pope. Benson-Pope issued a public statement on 28 February 2006 saying that although a discussion had taken place, he had not seen a written complaint until the day before. He apologised in Parliament to his former students, while maintaining he had done nothing inappropriate.