Christchurch Mayor Lianne Dalziel knew of allegations against a city councillor months before an investigation started, and the councillor was told to avoid contact with young people, Dalziel has confirmed.
Stuff reported on Friday that the city council was investigating after a youth group made a formal complaint on behalf of teenagers to the council's acting chief executive Mary Richardson on September 4.
The teenagers are reported to be as young as 13.
The allegations include allegedly sending three young people "grossly inappropriate" social media messages, including a sexually explicit meme.
The councillor, who is standing again in this year's elections and whom Stuff is not identifying at this stage, has not responded to repeated requests for comment.
After claims Dalziel knew previously about the allegations, she has confirmed to Stuff she was approached in May by members of a youth group about their concerns.
"I met with representatives of the youth group on 10 June 2019, where they described the pattern of behaviour and messages which they were concerned about."
"We agreed that I would speak to the councillor concerned and that I would put in place some measures to ensure that the councillor didn't attend events where (they) would be in contact with young people."
"I would also seek assurances regarding behaviour that was considered inappropriate. I also undertook to ensure that there was an understanding of the power imbalance that exists between an elected member and a young person."
Dalziel met with the youth group again on June 24 to discuss the next steps.
She explained the council's code of conduct was an "extremely poor process" for addressing such matters.
"There was ultimately no means of resolution other than a vote of the council, and even then it could only be a recommendation."
Dalziel said she raised the option of restorative justice, believing it may have been a "satisfactory resolution".
"They weren't sure about what the best approach would be.
"I wasn't able to tell them what a formal Code of Conduct complaint would mean in terms of naming the young people concerned."
The matter was then handed over to the acting chief executive and Dalziel asked her to also talk to the councillor about the concerns that had been raised and to meet with the youth group.
"I received assurances from the acting chief executive that all the relevant steps that I had asked the councillor to take were being addressed.
On September 19, Dalziel was notified the acting chief executive had met with two young people on the evening of September 17, where she was given detailed information about the nature of the complaints.
"I was not aware of all of the issues that were the subject of the complaint," Dalziel said on Sunday.
"I was advised that an independent investigator had been appointed and will start on Monday 23 September 2019."
Since the allegations have been published a number of councillors, whom Stuff has not named for legal reasons, have come forward to say they are not the person under investigation. They said they weren't aware of any complaints or the council investigation until Friday.
RNZ reported one of the complainants referred to a single event and two talked about multiple interactions with the councillor over a three-year period.
All three were aged between 13 and 21 at the time.
They claimed the councillor engaged in late-night messaging on social media on numerous occasions that was "grossly inappropriate", RNZ reported.
It included references to the physical attractiveness of one of the young people, statements such as "I miss you" and "I want a hug" and emojis with love heart eyes.
There was also a sexually explicit meme, RNZ reported.
It was claimed the interactions with the young people were not just on social media and involved the councillor insisting on hugs in the place of handshakes offered by the young people.
It was said the councillor had a nickname for one of the young people that made them feel uncomfortable.
The youth group confirmed to Stuff that it was supporting the teenagers, but would not be commenting until speaking to the complainants and their families.
Stuff has chosen not to identify the youth group after being advised this could lead to the identification of the young people involved.
