An assistant headteacher at a village primary school who asked a former pupil to send him pictures of her in the bath while also quizzing her about her sex life has been struck off.
Michael Lee, who worked at Swaffham Bulbeck Church of England Primary School, was banned from teaching after a Teaching Regulation Agency (TRA) misconduct hearing.
The 39-year-old was found to have failed to maintain appropriate professional boundaries, having sent what were referred to as patently sexual messages to the ex-student.
Michael Lee was banned following a Teaching Regulation Agency misconduct hearing
After ruling his conduct could be characterised as sexual misconduct involving a child, it was decided Mr Lee should never be permitted to reapply to be a teacher.
Mr Lee, who worked at the school from 2016 until 2020, was first subject to an internal disciplinary process in relation to the incident back in 2017.
He was initially given a written warning, but the matter was revisited after the school joined the Diocese of Ely Multi-Academy Trust (DEMAT), which referred it to the TRA in 2019.
During the hearing, the panel was told how Mr Lee, also a designated safeguarding lead at the time, had become friends with the former pupil on Facebook. In May 2017, he described her as stunning and engaged in conversations with her about her romantic relationship with her boyfriend, asking if they had slept together.
He also told her that he didn’t deserve to be with her and attempted to add the ex-student on the image-swapping social media platform, Snapchat.
On another occasion, while she was in the bath, Mr Lee asked her to send him pictures, before also requesting a photo of her when he knew she was in bed. Mr Lee described his conduct as horrendous and acknowledged he had made a grave error but said he did not believe he should be prevented from teaching.
The panel concluded his actions were of a sexual nature and amounted to unacceptable professional conduct which may bring the profession into disrepute. He was banned indefinitely.
A spokesperson for Swaffham Bulbeck Primary School said: “After Swaffham Bulbeck joined DEMAT as an academy in 2018, the trust was made aware of a previous safeguarding issue relating to this individual, and immediately sought professional advice.
“As a result of this, the individual was then referred to the authorities, which led to the decision that the matter should be considered at a TRA hearing. When a further issue was raised after the individual had left Swaffham Bulbeck, we also immediately reported this information to the authorities.
“We have updated our community and assured them that the safety of our pupils is, and always will be, our top priority.”