General Chat

A teacher sacked for possessing indecent images of children should be allowed to return to work in schools, a panel has ruled.

Geoffrey Bettley, 36, was suspended from St Mary's Catholic School in Menston, West Yorkshire, in December 2010 after police found nearly 200 child abuse images on his computer.

He accepted a police caution and was dismissed by the school following a disciplinary hearing in December 2011.

But a professional conduct panel has ruled that the RE teacher should be allowed to return to teaching after concluding he "does not represent a risk to children and young people".

In its judgment, the National College of Teaching and Leadership professional conduct panel said the images viewed by Mr Bettley were "not at the most serious end" of the Copine scale - the rating system used to categorise the severity of images of child sex abuse - and there were "relatively few" on his computer.

His behaviour did not show a "deep-seated attitude which leads to harmful behaviour", it ruled.

"Mr Bettley, does not, in the view of the panel, represent a risk to children and young people," the panel said.

"Although the findings in this case are serious ones, for the reasons set out, I support the recommendation of the Panel that a prohibition order should not be applied in this case."

Mr Bettley was employed at St Mary's from September 2001 to December 2011.

He visited a website in March 2009 where he viewed six child abuse images, according to the panel's ruling.

When his computer was seized by the police in December 2010, 143 images were found at level one of the Copine scale, which covers nudity or erotic posing.

A further 46 images considered to be at level three on the scale were found but had not been opened, the panel said.

Mr Bettley acknowledged that the images were of underage children and were child abuse images and admitted to police that he had accessed and viewed the images, the panel said.

He was cautioned for the offence of possessing an indecent photograph or pseudo-photograph of a child and placed on the sex offenders register for two years, according to the ruling.

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I don't have children, but if I did, they wouldn't be going to that school!

That's disgraceful.

200 images! He couldn't say he found the website by accident.

I wonder if anyone on the conduct panel has children... and would they let them to go a school where that man was teaching.

Pathetic decision!

He had the images: he may have had the intent.

A person in his position should not have been in possession of any such images at what ever scale!

And just how do you rate the scale of such images?? They are all obnoxious

One of the sad sack aspects of the web is that on the basis of a headline people feel able to set themselves up as judge and jury, knowing better than those who have spent long hours reviewing a case and interviewing those involved.

As far as I can tell if the views of shocking, disgusted, outraged et al were to be followed a good part of the adult and young adult population would be starving to death in a cell far far away.

If you like that sort of thing then try out Arizona.

He had to look for those images didn't he? Why did he because any "normal" person wouldn't even think about it.

They can make all the excuses they like, but they are just sick! :-|

Teachers undergo extended CRB checks which reveal ALL contact with police.
Although a caution is not classified as a conviction, it will still appear on the CRB check.
When applying for a teaching position, if the individual discloses that they have had a caution then each individual case will be considered on its own merits - that does certainly not mean that they will necessarily be considered for the position.
If the applicant fails to disclose the caution but it is subsequently discovered (either through a CRB check or other means) then the application will usually be rejected.

So, in this case, although the panel has ruled that this individual MAY return to teaching, in reality it is doubtful, certainly in the near future, that that will actually happen.

As a school governor I have sat on interview panels and this sort of information would have a serious impact on the successful outcome of the interview.

I'm wondering what prompted the police to check his computer in the first place

AnnCardiff I guess it can happen for a great many reasons.
Sometimes it is because a computer has been taken in to be repaired and images are discovered. Other times it may be that the computer has been left unattended and someone else has had a look. Sometimes it can be through entrapment.
Very often it is not because the police suspect that person but because they have been alerted for some reason through a third party.
Whatever the reason, it is always pretty distasteful and it always amazes me the excuses that people come up with.

Allan - the Copine scale is a clearly defined scale that was developed to categorise the different levels of both child erotica and child pornography in images to determine the level of severity.

That decision was as unexpected as my cat joining RSPB. Competent teachers must be in short supply.

I think the best judge of character if he was a decent person to be in charge of a class of pupils would be to ask the children whos images he viewed..!!

"some of these sites need a "card payment" to view the images.....from the activilty of a card it can be traced to the owner,

I am inclined to agree with Errol's reason, these daft bats on the panel seem to think he is no threat to children, however again this ruling doesnt indicate that he is actually employed in a school, or that any school ( with their right minds) would employ him, as Scozz says my children wouldnt be attending the school he was employed in.