Shocking discovery at Springbank Secondary College prompts letter of apology to be urgently sent to parents

• e-mail

An apology letter has been sent to parents after it was revealed a teacher had been allowed to work at their kid's high school despite landing into trouble at his previous school for using a student's computer log-in to access porn and 'rape' images. 

The South Australian Education Department has blamed an 'administrative' oversight for allowing the teacher back in the classroom in a letter sent to Springbank Secondary College parents, where the teacher was found working this month. 

The teacher - a father-of-three who has not been named for legal reasons - was employed by the school at Pasendena in Adelaide's south in August 2021.

The original scandal occurred at Naracoorte High School in 2004 and the teacher was again pulled up two years later for breaching department guidelines on internet use. He kept his job, receiving a slap on the wrist and counselling. 

The child whose log-on was used was suspended then bullied until he dropped out of school before completing Year 10.

The student is now a family man with a successful business and blew the whistle on the teacher back in 2011 after seeking Freedom of Information documents from the department.

'It is the course I was able to take but I feel very sorry for any students required to deal with the department - this was a process failure by the department,' he told The Adelaide Advertiser.

Almost ten years after the scandal, the teacher was suspended on full pay in October 2013 then moved on to a non-teaching position. He was at that point working at Reynella East College as a coordinator for Year 8 students.

Parents of students at Springbank Secondary College received the apology letter this month

A teacher who previously looked at porn on a school computer and tried to hide it by using a student's log-on was allowed to keep teaching (stock)

When the teacher was suspended in 2013, the principals at Reynella East College and Aberfoyle Park High, where the man had also worked, sent an apology letter to parents. 

The letter said police were not involved as they determined no laws had been broken. 

The department gave the student a $30,000 settlement, which he described as hush money after he had to sign an agreement to not speak about the incident, which he regrets.

Former SA Premier Jay Weatherill later waived the confidentiality agreement after becoming aware of the case.

The former student said he alerted the department that the teacher was back in the classroom in early July this year and received a letter back blaming an official who has since left and the Teachers Registration Board, who didn't deregister the teacher.

He said the department offered him 10 counselling sessions and refused to disclose where else the teacher might have worked as it was a 'private employment matter'. 

The SA education department confirmed it was contacted about a teacher working at Springbank Secondary College earlier this month and immediately launched an investigation.

The teacher also worked at Aberfoyle Park High School in Adelaide

'The internal investigation has found that the teacher was registered and possessed a working with children clearance but was employed without all appropriate department processes being completed. This is not acceptable,' department acting chief executive Ben Temperly told Daily Mail Australia.

He has since written to parents/carers to make them aware of the error and apologise to the school and its wider community.

'We have identified that an error in process was made by an employee, who no longer works for the department, in August 2021, prior to the teacher commencing at Springbank College,' Temperly added

'The teacher was directed away last week, and won’t be returning to any school.'

Daily Mail Australia has also contacted the Teachers Registration Board for comment.