Wesley College. Photo: Facebook/ Wesley College Old Students Association
A kitchen worker at an Auckland school has resigned after an allegation of sexual offending involving a student.
The police said they investigated an incident between an employee and a student at Wesley College reported in August.
Detective Inspector Veronica McPherson said a 24-year-old man had now been charged with sexual connection with a young person.
"As the matter is before the Court, the Police is not able to comment further," she said.
Wesley College had to urgently close its boarding hostel this month, but the school and the Ministry of Education said the closure was not related to the allegation.
Wesley principal Brian Evans said the kitchen staff member had been reference checked an police vetted.
"After receiving a disclosure about the allegation, we immediately informed the student's family, Police, and Oranga Tamariki," he said.
"Our first priority was the wellbeing of the student. We offered her and her family support, then handed the matter over to police for investigation. The family expressed appreciation for the way the situation was handled under our safeguarding protocols. They later chose to withdraw their daughter from the school and indicated they would access support through their networks."
The school did not directly respond to RNZ about whether the wider school community had been informed.
"Further to your query about whether the school informed their wider community, it's important to understand that in recent years, Wesley has worked deliberately to ensure their community moves away from the harmful tradition of silence that has historically affected many New Zealand institutions, Wesley included. It is important that all students, staff, and families feel safe to disclose concerns, and that their voices are heard and acted upon promptly. The school's gold-standard safeguarding system is built specifically to enable this openness and ensure that issues are addressed transparently and appropriately.
"We understand the community's need for timely, clear communication. Their processes are designed to balance this commitment with legal and ethical obligations around privacy and any police investigation."
The staff member appeared in the Pukekohe District Court last month and was remanded on bail.
Earlier this month, Wesley College launched legal action after the Ministry of Education suspended its licence to house boarders.
The Ministry said the decision was made under Regulation 32 of the Education (Hostels) Regulations 2005, which states a hostel's license can be suspended if it was not in the boarders' interests for it to remain open.
Both parties said the closure was not related to the charges.
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