Alex Mullen of QEB Hollis Whiteman appeared on behalf of the Teaching Regulation Agency in the matter of Paul Brown, banned from teaching following child sex abuse chat.
The case focused on the activity of the former primary school headteacher Paul Brown in 2023. Mr Brown had been active on BDSM and kink social media platform FetLife, and had engaged in chat with someone he believed to be a woman with two young children, apparently planning to meet the woman and the children for sexually motivated purposes under falsely innocent pretences.
Mr Brown was arrested by police, but he was not charged with any offence. He maintained that he believed the chats were a 'fantasy'.
The Panel found that Mr Brown had engaged in the chats as alleged, discussing previously sexually assaulting children and arranging to meet the children referred to in the chats. Further, he did not report the profile in question to the FetLife application nor the police on becoming aware that children may be at risk.
The Panel further agreed with Alex's submissions that the conduct was sexual and sexually motivated.
The panel went on to recommend, in line with Alex's submissions on behalf of the Agency, that Mr Brown be prohibited from teaching. The relevant decision-maker on behalf of the Secretary of State agreed.
The case has been reported in the press:
The full Judgment of the Panel is available here.
Alex Mullen