Carey Baptist Grammar School teacher in Victoria banned after sending 35,000 messages to student
A Victorian teacher who sent thousands of messages to a student and engaged in sexual acts with them following graduation has been banned from teaching.
Former Carey Baptist Grammar teacher Eleanor Louise Yorke began dating an 18-year-old former student, who for legal reasons cannot be named.
Yorke, who joined the school in 2017, taught biology and chemistry to Year 12 students.
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During the COVID-19 lockdowns, Yorke, who was then 26, and the 17-year-old pupil began talking online over Microsoft Teams.
The teenager contacted Yorke for additional help with schoolwork, which led to the pair talking every day.
A disciplinary panel at the Victorian Institute of Teaching found Yorke had sent the student 35,000 messages.
On Thursday, the now 31-year-old had her registration cancelled and has been banned from working in education for three years.
“(Yorke’s actions) occurred over a period of years, changing in nature from professional interactions into personal, intimate discussions and culminating in a sexual relationship,” the disciplinary panel said of its judgement.
“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 increasingly frequent references to taking the teacher’s relationship with the student to a new level once the student had completed Year 12”.
Yorke told the disciplinary panel that the relationship was entirely consensual, but she was concerned about the power imbalance.
Carey Baptist Grammar stood Yorke down in 2023 after becoming aware of the relationship, citing concerns for professional standards.
Yorke has said she is now pursuing a degree in psychology and has reportedly no desire to return to teaching.
