Teacher who sent student 35,000 messages before pursuing sexual relationship learns her fate
A female teacher who sent 35,000 messages to one of her students before having a sexual relationship with them after they graduated, has been banned from her job.
Former Carey Baptist Grammar teacher Eleanor Louise Yorke was 26 in 2020 when she began dating an 18-year-old former student of hers, who cannot be named for legal reasons.
Yorke had started working at the illustrious co-ed private school in 2017, teaching biology and chemistry to Year 12 students.
During the Covid-19 lockdowns, Yorke and the Year 12 student talked online over Microsoft Teams.
In 2020, the then-17-year-old student sought additional help with schoolwork, as they struggled with lockdowns, which turned into the pair speaking daily.
The Victorian Institute of Teaching found Yorke sent the student 35,000 messages.
'It was also alleged that Ms Yorke then began a sexual relationship with the student after they had graduated and turned 18 and this relationship continued for a year,' a VIT statement read.
On Thursday, the institute cancelled the now 31-year-old's registration and banned her from education for three years, starting from March, The Age reported.
The disciplinary panel highlighted in its decision that there were several incidents.
'[It] occurred over a period of years, changing in nature from professional interactions into personal, intimate discussions and culminating in a sexual relationship.
'This deliberate rejection of professional standards by a teacher whose skills and talents had led to rapid promotion was one for which the panel could find no justification, nor was there any satisfactory explanation.'
'The emails show an increased emotional bonding developing through the extensive number of messages,' the panel also said.
'There were also increasingly frequent references to taking the teacher's relationship with the student to a new level once the student had completed year 12.'
In March, VIT had heard there was no sexual or intimate relationship between the pair while the student was studying at the school.
On one occasion, Yorke asked the student if they should end their communications and told the hearing she tried to 'reset' boundaries.
Yorke said their relationship was, however, entirely consensual, but she was worried about the circumstances.
'Even though we spoke about our concerns with [the power imbalance], it still exists,' she told the regulator.
In the decision this week, the disciplinary panel noted the relationship had happened anyway.
'This relationship occurred despite [Yorke] being aware of the clear warnings against violating professional relationships with students,' the panel said.
Yorke also told the March hearing she had been 'deeply lonely' at the time and had not yet 'come out'.
Carey Baptist Grammar became aware of the relationship in 2023 and stood Yorke down over concerns for professional standards.
Yorke, who described losing her job as 'horrible', has previously said she is now pursuing a career in psychology and claimed she had no desire to return to teaching.
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