Mount Maunganui early childhood teacher pleads guilty to making intimate visual recordings

A teacher has admitted using a hidden phone to make recordings in a Mount Maunganui early childhood centre staff bathroom.

Police investigations have found metadata that includes cached images of the staff toilet dating back to 2017.

However, the recordings that form the basis of 21 charges began in June 2025 and were filmed on a smartphone hidden in an emergency evacuation backpack, with a hole cut in it.

The man's identity cannot be revealed as his interim name suppression has been continued until sentencing.

The 53-year-old appeared before Judge William Lawson in the Tauranga District Court on Wednesday, where, through his lawyer Xu Wang, he pleaded guilty to 21 charges.

The summary of facts, released to NZME, details 21 specific recordings, some of which relate to women known to the man and some who are described as "unidentified".

None of the victims are children.

In 19 recordings, the victims' genitalia were exposed or partially exposed.

The earliest recording that is the subject of a charge was made "on or before 4 June, 2025″.

The summary of facts said that about 1pm on 30 June, 2026, police received a call from a concerned colleague of the man, stating she had found a hidden recording device in the early childhood centre's staff bathroom.

The device was a smartphone concealed in the pocket of an emergency evacuation backpack.

The pocket had a "purposefully cut hole in it" and the camera was positioned to capture the staff toilet from about 2m away.

A member of staff confronted the man after locating the hidden phone, and he reacted by "throwing the cellphone out of the window, running outside to the phone, snapping it in half and disposing of it".

He told the staff member he had thrown it into an outside rubbish bin and pointed to the bin.

When police arrived, they searched the rubbish bin described, but didn't find the phone.

When spoken to, the man said he disposed of the phone because "it was just yuck and I got a disgusted feeling".

The next day, police did further searches and found the snapped phone buried under a thin layer of dirt and leaves in a garden.

On 2 July, police searched the man's home address and seized electronic devices.

A preliminary search of a seized micro SD card located about 72 still image "thumbnails" of the early childhood centre's staff toilet with metadata dating back to 2017.

All devices attributed to the defendant, including the broken phone, have been forensically examined and analysed.

To date, police have found 21 individual covert recordings of females using the staff toilet at the early childhood centre.

Police also located several videos showing the defendant and his face while concealing and positioning the covert recording device.

Media reviewed from these devices includes cached images of the staff toilet dating from late 2017 to 30 June, 2026, when police became aware of the matter.

When spoken to by police, the man said he was the only person who "interacted with the emergency evacuation backpacks" and the hidden smartphone belonged to him.

He admitted to making previous covert recordings of the staff bathroom, but denied or could not recall the events that formed the basis for the charges.

The man pleaded guilty to 21 charges and his lawyer said the summary of facts was accepted.

Wang asked for interim suppression to continue until sentencing, indicating an application for permanent name suppression would be made at that point.

NZME sought that suppression be lifted, having been informed the identified victims of the offending did not support continued suppression.

Under the Victims of Sexual Violence (Strengthening Legal Protections) Legislation Act 2025, where cases involve specific sexual offences, or where a judge deems the offence is sexual in nature, the court can no longer make an order for the defendant's permanent name suppression without the complainant's agreement.

Judge Lawson indicated that while that argument may be available, the issue of permanent name suppression would be decided at sentencing, scheduled for 25 March, 2027.

Wang also sought variations to the man's bail conditions, including allowing him to go within 50m of educational facilities, rather than the previous radius of 100m.

He said that was to allow the man to take main-road routes for his usual routines, including going to the supermarket.

A condition that prevented the man from entering Mount Maunganui has also been removed, with Wang arguing it was not necessary to "mitigate risk" in circumstances where the man had not been offending except in a specific location.

Police did not oppose continued name suppression or the bail variations sought.

The Teaching Council's register confirms the man has voluntarily agreed not to teach.

* This story originally appeared in the New Zealand Herald.