Child porn teacher is allowed back in the classroom: Alarm as RE master escapes ban



Geoffrey Bettley viewed six child abuse images on internet site in 2009

Handed caution after police found 189 indecent images on his computer

He viewed some of the pictures for 'two to three years on and off'



36-year-old was placed on the sex offenders' register for two years

Disciplinary panel says images 'not at the most serious end of the scale'

Tory MP: 'I suspect most parents would feel very uneasy about this man being able to continue teaching'

'Very worrying case': RE teacher Geoffrey Bettley (pictured) has been allowed to carry on working in schools despite being cautioned for possessing indecent images of children

A teacher who downloaded child porn has been allowed to resume his career by the Department for Education.

Geoffrey Bettley, 36, was sacked, given a police caution and ordered to sign the Sex Offenders’ Register after admitting viewing sickening images over several years.

But a professional conduct panel said the married RE teacher could return to the classroom because of his ‘excellent teaching’.

A senior official, acting on behalf of Education Secretary Michael Gove, rubber-stamped the decision, saying there was a ‘need to be proportionate and to act in the public interest’.

Last night the case sparked a furious reaction from MPs, schools campaigners and a children’s charity. Research has shown that one in six men who view child porn go on to abuse children. Fears about the effects of child porn have been heightened after child killers Mark Bridger and Stuart Hazell were found to have been heavy users of it in the run up to the murders of April Jones, five, and Tia Sharp, 12.

Culture Secretary Maria Miller has summoned internet giants, including Google, to a summit in an attempt to find ways to reduce the amount of harmful material available online.

The Bettley case is similar to a scandal that rocked Labour in 2006 and damaged then Education Secretary Ruth Kelly’s reputation. At the time, Norfolk-based PE teacher Paul Reeve was told he could continue working after receiving a caution for viewing child porn.

Bettley was a teacher at St Mary’s Catholic High School in Menston, West Yorkshire, for ten years until he was sacked in December 2011.

Disgraced: Bettley, 36, was dismissed from his ten-year career at St Mary's Catholic School (above), in Menston, West Yorkshire, after he accepted a police caution

Details of his web habits were revealed in a report by the National College for Teaching and Leadership after its professional conduct panel considered his case.

He initially visited an internet site in 2009 and viewed ‘six child abuse images’.

By the time police seized his computer in December last year he had seen 143 images – assessed to be on the lowest ‘level one’ scale for seriousness.

Another 46 more serious ‘level three’ images, including scenes of child abuse, were on the computer but had not been viewed.

The panel said the photographs were ‘not at the most serious end of the scale but, nevertheless, embarking on the process of downloading such images may lead to the viewing of more serious images’.

All-clear: Education Secretary Michael Gove (left) has now supported a disciplinary panel’s recommendation that Bettley does not pose a risk to children and that he should be able to resume his teaching career



The report said Bettley had used the website for ‘two to three years on and off.’ Instead of being taken to court, he was given the option of accepting a police caution.

The panel decided his actions amounted to ‘conduct that may bring the profession into disrepute’ and his behaviour amounted to ‘unacceptable professional conduct’.

But it took his ‘excellent’ teaching history into account and said the ‘principle of proportionality’ had been taken into account in deciding he should be allowed to continue teaching in future.

Its conclusions were forwarded to the Department for Education where the official concluded: ‘Although the findings in the case are serious ones... I support the recommendation of the panel that a prohibition order should not be applied in this case.’



Bettley had been put on a ‘barred list’ by the Independent Safeguarding Authority, which replaced the Criminal Records Bureau, but his name was removed last June.



Yesterday Tory Philip Davies said: ‘This is a very worrying case and I suspect most parents would feel very uneasy about this man being able to continue teaching, given his past record.

‘I think that in such cases there should be an automatic bar on people being able to teach.’

Chris McGovern, chairman of the Campaign for Real Education, said: ‘Since this involved indecent images of children it should have been taken more seriously. Many parents would be very concerned to know this person was teaching their children.’

An NSPCC spokesman added: ‘It’s shocking that someone who downloaded images of children should be allowed to continue to teach in a school.

‘And I’m sure most parents will feel very uncomfortable knowing Mr Bettley is back in the classroom.’ Parents connected to St Mary’s School were also astonished. Mother-of-five Sarah Jaggo, whose son recently attended the school, said: ‘I certainly wouldn’t want my child to be taught by anyone who has done that. He shouldn’t get a job as a lollipop man let alone in a school.’

A Department for Education spokesman said: ‘The Secretary of State does not make these decisions himself. They are made by an independent panel and reviewed by a senior official.

‘We keep the process under review because of legal complexities and we are examining whether this case was handled correctly.’

Bettley has been married to wife Jennifer for almost ten years. It was not clear last night if she is standing by him but a woman was seen at his home in Leeds.