A police investigation into inappropriate contact between a teacher and student in Gisborne in 2014 was "flawed" and "deficient in several respects", the Independent Police Conduct Authority (IPCA) has ruled.
An investigation by the Gisborne Police Child Protection Team (CPT) into allegations of inappropriate contact between 41-year-old intermediate school teacher Sam Back and Reiha McLelland, a 13-year-old student, found there was insufficient evidence of criminal offending.
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But an IPCA review of the case found their investigation was "flawed".
Mr Back and Reiha had texted for months, with the teacher telling Reiha on one occasion he was thinking of her as he watched a sunrise.
"Happy, because its holidays, but super sad because I will miss seeing you almost every day," said another text.
On Valentine's Day 2014, he said the day was for "spending time with and appreciating the ones you hold dear, so no rules will keep me from appreciating you today"
Mr Back and his partner visited Reiha when she was a patient in Gisborne Hospital in August 2014, leading to a paediatrician sending a "report of concern" to Child, Youth and Family.
The report said the doctor's opinion was that Mr Back and his partner were going "over and above what would be expected". On one occasion a nurse allegedly found Mr Back and Reiha holding hands.
Reiha later committed suicide in August 2014, with her death referred to the Coroner.
Following a Teachers Council Disciplinary Tribunal hearing and the Coroner's inquest, the student's parents complained to the IPCA.
The authority found the CPT didn't adequately assess evidence, record interviews, put in place an adequate investigation plan, or make all appropriate enquiries.
It also failed to provide all relevant data to the Coroner, but this was found not to be a deliberate attempt to withhold information.
Serious concerns were raised about the investigating officer's supervisor, who "had a conflict of interest which was not properly managed, and consequently the investigation was not adequately supervised".
The supervisor made several "patently wrong and misleading" submissions to the Teachers Council regarding name suppression for Mr Back, according to the authority.
This was contrary to police policy and amounted to "misconduct at the serious end of the spectrum".
"If the supervisor had intended to mislead the Teachers Council, he would have been guilty of the offence of attempting to pervert the course of justice. However, such an intent cannot be proved," said the IPCA chair, Judge Colin Doherty.
The authority found the supervisor was not actively involved in the case and therefore the outcome was not pre-determined.
The police's initial consultation with Child, Youth and Family was ruled to be delayed. The authority found the police should have considered the relevance of the information they held about Reiha to other agencies, although it noted this was not policy at the time.
Notwithstanding the inadequacy of the police's assessment, the IPCA ruled there was insufficient evidence available to police to charge Mr Back with a criminal offence. The police also did not leak an internal report to the Gisborne Herald
On Tuesday, Eastern District Commander Supt Tania Kura acknowledged there were several deficiencies throughout the investigation.
"Eastern District Police have conducted an internal review of the investigation and our findings were broadly in line with the IPCA's findings released today," she said. "We have to be better than this".
"In particular, it is crucial that all officers no matter what rank they are, are able to identify a potential conflict of interest and know how to appropriately manage it."
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