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Australia – from www.theage.com.au – A teacher under investigation for allegedly appearing in a pornographic film with one of his former students could return to work as early as next week.

A spokeswoman for the Department of Education said the teacher, from Oberon High School in Belmont, near Geelong, had agreed not to return to the school this week while the department conducts its investigation.

However the teacher has not been suspended and could return next week.
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It comes as the English teacher’s students rushed to his defence, saying he was a dedicated and inspiring mentor.

“I am a student at the school and believe that no matter what allegation has been made upon this teacher it still stands that he is a fantastic teacher and an important part of our community,” one student wrote to The Age.

“Having had him for several classes i can recommend his teaching skills, he was and still is properly the best teacher at our school. He is an extremely admirable man and i great asset to our school [sic].”

Students discovered the graphic film on a pornographic website and began discussing and sharing the link on social networking sites earlier this week.

Graphic footage shows a woman, who at one point is blindfolded, and a man naked on a bed.

It is claimed the woman was a former student who graduated from Oberon High in 2008. There is no suggestion the pair had a relationship when the woman was a student.

School principal Alison Murphy yesterday said she met with the teacher and contacted the Department of Education immediately after learning of the allegations this week.

She said the school was taking the allegations “very seriously”.

from www.geelongadvertiser.com – THE Oberon High School teacher and ex-student at the centre of a porn video scandal have told of their distress over the furore.

The long-serving teacher is on indefinite leave and is the subject of an Education Department investigation.

The ex-student told the Geelong Advertiser yesterday that everyone who knew them understood they were in a committed relationship.

“We’re consenting adults,” she said.

The sex tape, which was uploaded onto a porn website, went viral on Monday creating a Facebook storm among current and former students.

The teacher was questioned by the department on the same day it launched new guidelines for teachers on appropriate and responsible online behaviour.

“A teacher should not appear in an online sex video, regardless whether it is with a former student or with whoever. IT IS NOT APPROPRIATE! It is a no brainer, he should be sacked. Otherwise, there must be something really wrong with our education system.”
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The couple live together and jointly own a business. There is no suggestion they were in a relationship while the woman was a student.

Oberon principal Alison Murphy said she was “uncertain” when the VCE teacher would return to school and it would be inappropriate to sack him before full details of the incident were known.

“The school community is a bit disappointed we find ourselves in this situation,” she said.

She stressed it was a personal matter for the “highly regarded” teacher.

There is no suggestion there is any illegal activity involved in the incident.

Australian Education Union Victoria branch president Mary Bluett said, despite the situation falling into a “grey area”, the teacher faced the sack.

“Teacher standards are very, very clear in these areas (appropriate teacher, student distance),” she said.

“If the claims are true and there’s no mitigating circumstances, personally I can’t see him being registered as a teacher.”

Ms Bluett said, even if the video had not involved a former student, it would still be investigated.

“With the code of behaviour teachers accept a higher standard of behaviour,” she said.

“It depends on the nature of it, but I would say it (a teacher in a sex tape) isn’t appropriate if it was out there for public consumption.”

The ex-student in the tape, who graduated in 2008, was forced to hide her social media profile yesterday after a flood of friend requests.

Former students told the Geelong Advertiser the teacher was great and it would be a shame if he was banned from teaching because of the incident.

Parent Sally Wood said the mistake was an “absolute tragedy” given how the teacher had enriched the school community in the past.

Other parents said they were shocked by the video and hoped their children had not viewed it.

An Education Department spokeswoman said the incident was a “timely reminded of the dangers of cyberspace”.