A woman who was groomed into a sexual relationship by a teacher when she was 16, has publicly spoken about the traumatic ordeal in a bid to hold him accountable. New Zealand woman Helena Dray, 21, waived her right to name suppression because she did not want to contribute to the narrative that victims' actions are 'shameful' or 'contributory to their abuse'. She now realises she was not to blame for the 'shameful and arrogant' actions of the man, who now just uses the name Taurapa.
Helena Dray pictured who was groomed into a sexual relationship by a teacher when she was 16, has publicly spoken about the traumatic ordeal in a bid to hold him accountable. I believe his actions towards me were shameful and arrogant, and there should be no place for that in Aotearoa New Zealand.
It wasn't until March that his relationship with Ms Dray was exposed after two Christ's College staffers - where Taurapa was also a live-in house tutor - became suspicious of his behaviour. She said the stigma and victim blaming that generally surrounds such cases delayed her coming forward. Taurapa pictured began preying on the young girl in while employed by an elite private school.
T he extent of Taurapa's relationship with Ms Dray was not revealed until she provided the Teaching Council with an affidavit at the start of as part of the body's investigation into his actions. In , Taurapa started a Snapchat group with Ms Dray and several other students to discuss their language studies.
Then he also began messaging Ms Dray, who was just 15 at the time, privately through the app. On her 16th birthday Taurapa gifted her a writing journal and two poems, including one titled 'words of love'. The conversations between Taurapa and Ms Dray then turned sexual, with the teacher asking her about masturbation, her affidavit revealed.
