Teacher’s double life
A teacher jailed for having sex with students has abandoned an appeal to keep her name suppression. goes back to where it all started.
Jaimee Marie Cooney, now 38, had been working at Marlborough Boys’ College for about 12 years when police started investigating her ‘‘close relationships’’ with students. She was appointed head of languages by the age of 32, and later wellness co-ordinator, after revealing to senior staff she was struggling with her own mental health issues.
Several sources told Stuff she had been sexually abusing students for a long time before she approached a boy in an empty classroom last year. That student, described by his peers as a ‘‘whistleblower’’, reported Cooney’s advances to senior staff.
Shortly afterwards, an explicit video of her was circulated through the school.
When the rumours surfaced, students who spoke on the condition of anonymity said they thought it was ‘‘kind of funny’’, but also ‘‘weird, and a bit gross’’.
Some were also not too surprised, saying rumours had been floating around for years.
‘‘We were hearing about her flirtations with older students, but we just thought she had some close friendships,’’ one student said, when the allegations first became public in May last year.
Principal Wayne Hegarty and the school board were notified on May 8. Oranga Tamariki, the police, the Ministry of Education and the Teaching Council were contacted and Cooney was placed on leave. A statement was released on May 17, confirming a staff member was on leave while an investigation was carried out. A letter sent to parents shortly after said the college was working through a ‘‘matter relating to a staff member’’ and an investigation was under way.
The nature of the allegations rapidly surfaced as students came clean to parents, and police began their interviews.
The mother of one of the boys involved with Cooney told Stuff she was ‘‘furious’’ with her.
‘‘I feel sick. You send your kids to school to think they are protected by teachers and they’re looking after your kids.’’
She heard the video circulated at school sparked the investigation, she said. ‘‘I’d say the boys were showing their mates thinking it was pretty cool.’’
One boy told his father he rebuffed Cooney’s advances, the father told Stuff.
‘‘I talked to my son when this all came out, and asked him how many boys were involved. He said, ‘Dad, this is years’ worth of stuff’ . . . My jaw just dropped.’’
Some boys started to panic about being caught with the explicit video of the teacher downloaded to their cellphones. At least one destroyed his cellphone.
High-profile Christchurch lawyer Jonathan Eaton, QC, was hired by Cooney in May, and obtained a High Court injunction to prevent her name being made public. Later in May people questioned why police were taking so long to press charges.
Tasman Police District Commander Superintendent Mike Johnson said police were still collecting evidence.
Several sources confirmed police interviewed dozens of current and former students during their investigations.
Cooney had resigned by June 21, and the Teaching Council Register showed the teacher had ‘‘voluntarily agreed not to teach’’, pending the completion of a conduct investigation.
Police confirmed on July 25 that a 37-year-old woman had been arrested and charged with sexual connection to two under16-year-olds. Cooney appeared in the Blenheim District Court on October 29 and pleaded guilty to seven charges of sexual relations with minors and two charges of sending sexual material to minors.
The police summary of facts was finally released, revealing she befriended one student at a school production in 2017.
They started texting every day, spending lunchtimes together before their relationship became ‘‘flirty’’. She took him for a drive one lunchtime, saying she would fix his attendance record, the summary said.
They had sex on the back seat behind tinted windows in a Blenheim car park. It was the first of many meetings, sometimes on lunchbreaks, and sometimes on a Friday after school while Cooney waited to pick up her child.
The student told police he believed they were in a relationship. She would say she loved him, the summary said.
She took explicit photographs of herself and sent them to the boy through SnapChat, or videocalled the boy. The relationship lasted a year. He wanted to break up with Cooney earlier, but was reluctant because she seemed suicidal, the summary said.
The student invited another boy to join them in the back seat. Cooney continued to meet the second boy on several occasions, the summary said.
After her guilty plea, parents previously unable to speak publicly in case it prejudiced a fair trial were then able to reveal the scale of Cooney’s behaviour.
Dozens of students had been targeted over several years, several sources told Stuff. But because the majority were older than the legal age of consent, Cooney’s relationships with them were not illegal under the Child Protection Act, but rather a breach of the Teaching Council Code and Standards.
After her conviction in October, she was struck from the Teachers’ Register by the Teachers Council.
When Cooney returned for sentencing in December, the courthouse public gallery was almost full.
Crown prosecutor Mark O’Donoghue said her offending was more serious than other cases of teachers sexually abusing students. ‘‘She emotionally manipulated both boys. You can tell that from their victim impact statements,’’ O’Donoghue said. One that he read out stated: ‘‘Mrs Cooney made me worry about her as when I tried to stop what was happening between us she told me she would harm herself. This is not fair, she should not have put that burden on me.’’
Eaton said Cooney was still struggling to understand why she offended, but took full responsibility and showed genuine remorse.
Cooney had borrowed money from her family to offer as an ‘‘emotional harm payment’’ to the boys, which could have reduced the sentence, but the boys refused it. It would be kept in an account in case they changed their mind.
They also declined to attend a restorative justice meeting.
Defence lawyer Miriam Radich read Cooney’s apology letter aloud to the court.
‘‘I accept I humiliated and embarrassed you. I’m deeply sorry I hurt you and brought shame to your family. I hope you’re able to recover and put this behind you, knowing it was only me who has done anything wrong.’’
Cooney knew her behaviour had caused difficulties for the college, and her coworkers had been tainted by her actions, Radich said.
‘‘She will for a long time be identified with and defined by this . . . For those who know her, it’s incomprehensible, totally out of character. She’s a devoted and caring mother with a close bond to her children, a gentle and kind person who always put others ahead of herself.’’
Judge Zohrab said Cooney had seriously compromised her obligations in a senior leadership role at the school. ‘‘No-one should have been more attuned to the needs of young boys as they turn into men, as they try to develop a sense of self.’’
He sentenced Cooney to two years and six months’ imprisonment. He also refused name suppression, but granted interim suppression so Cooney could appeal. Her lawyers filed the paperwork on Friday, but withdrew the appeal on Monday – Cooney’s 38th birthday.
After sentencing, the school board revealed an independent investigation it commissioned found school staff had suspicions about Cooney but did not act quickly enough.
Coworkers had raised concerns in November 2018 about her ‘‘close relationship’’ with students, but she provided ‘‘plausible reasons’’ such as tutoring or counselling. Another complaint was made four months later, but no action was taken due to miscommunication and a computer glitch.
Board chairman Sturrock Saunders said the school had changed policies and procedures to ensure concerns were clearly reported.