A man whose son was approached by a teacher at the centre of a college sex scandal in Marlborough says possibly dozens of other, older students have also been caught up in the woman's "nasty pattern" of abuse.
The father, who Stuff agreed not to name to protect his son's identity, says his teenage son refused the woman's advances two days before someone else complained about the teacher in May.
But the man's son was older than the legal sex age of 16, which meant the woman's behaviour towards him was not illegal under the Child Protection Act, but rather a breach of the Teaching Council Code and Standards.
The woman in her 30s, who cannot be named, admitted seven counts of having sex with minors, and two of sending sexual images and video to minors, at the Blenheim District Court on Tuesday. She was convicted and bailed to a sentencing date of December 17.
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The father said through his discussions with other parents at the school he estimated the woman had targeted dozens of students over nearly four years.
"I talked to my son when this all came out, and asked him how many boys were involved. He said, 'Dad, this is years' worth of stuff' ... My jaw just dropped.
"And I thought, this is massively shocking ... So I can't honestly put a number on it, but it's a lot more than what the courts are saying, or what she's been divulging."
He was relieved his son felt able to tell him about the woman, even if it was not straight away, he said.
"I'm just glad my son knows he can talk to me about anything. I've explained to him you're my best mate, and I'd hate for anything to get you down, and for you to feel like you can't tell me."
His son said the woman drove him and a classmate to a course off-campus, pulled up in the car park and then "went to grab his privates".
When the teenager pushed her away and got out of the car, she turned her attention to his classmate, his father said.
"So he just went to the course. And I said, 'you left your mate in the car?' And he said, 'well he wasn't getting out'."
The teacher appeared to have "a nasty pattern", approaching students in the back seat of her car, he said. "It's just yucky."
The police summary of facts said the woman built a close friendship with a boy aged under 16 in 2017. She started taking him out of school at lunchtimes to have sex in the back seat of her car, saying she would fix his attendance if he missed classes.
Sometimes they would have sex after school on Fridays, when she was waiting to pick up her child. She would drive to car parks at reserves around Blenheim, and on one occasion during the Christmas holidays last year they had sex in a primary school car park.
The woman told the boy she loved him, and he believed they were in a relationship. She sent him naked photographs and videos, and told him not to tell anyone about their relationship. It lasted about a year.
After inviting another student aged under 16 to join them on one occasion, that student also met the woman for sex on several occasions.
The father said the woman was "obviously a predator", having used her position at the school to develop relationships with the boys and then cover up her offending.
"She was doing their attendance records ... she has mentally worked this out, and plotted this ... She sounded like she was really good at what she was doing. That's the sad thing about it, she was actually planning stuff."
He was also shocked the case was referred to restorative justice, where the woman and the boys could meet and try to get some closure, if the boys were willing to attend.
"For those kids to be put in the same room as her, when she's been manipulating them for years, that's a joke," the father said.
His son seemed to be coping fine with school, but he worried about the mental health of some of the boys, he said.
"She's done enough that some of those boys need to talk to a counsellor or whatever. She's pulled the wool over their eyes, it's actually shocking some of the things she said to them.
"I'd like to think the school is still going to extend a helping hand to the boys, and make sure they get professional help. Just because they're legally allowed to have sex, doesn't mean they're old enough to understand what's happened."
The Teaching Council had cancelled the woman's registration as a teacher following her conviction.
