A primary school teacher has been banned indefinitely after failing to reveal that she was in a relationship with a convicted child sex offender.
Leanne Till had begun working as a Year One teacher at Lark Hill Community Primary in January 2019, and remained there until her 12-year relationship was discovered in 2021.
During this period, she had visited her partner in prison and had maintained contact with him over the telephone, after he was convicted of child sex offences for the second time in 2018.
Her relationship was uncovered after the school was contacted by the Local Authority Designated Officer (LADO), who oversees allegations against adults who work with children.
They were contacted given that Miss Till’s partner was due to be released from prison, and concerns had been raised about the nature of their relationship given her access to children.
When asked in a meeting in February 2021 if he was a risk to children, she replied: “Probably, if he was in a position with children alone, possibly.”
She also said that she had last spoken to him at Christmas and was no longer in contact after they had broken up while he was in prison. She confirmed that she was on his friends and family list whilst he was in custody, and that she had accompanied his mother on visits.
Asked if she thought she had a duty to inform the school she said: “Probably, ideally that’s probably what should have happened”. But added, it had not felt imperative given her attempts to end the relationship and him being in prison.
When questioned why she thought the school would be concerned, she responded: “If a teacher or member of staff was in a relationship with a sex offender that would be a major concern when trying to safeguard children”.
While Miss Till said that she had been “pressured” to remain in the relationship, the school were concerned that she had not disclosed it in line with safeguarding policy.
During her evidence, she stated she felt there had been a “low safeguarding risk” given that he was serving a custodial sentence, and there was no statutory requirement for a teacher to disclose whether they lived with an individual with a relevant conviction.
A report following the hearing read: “The panel found that the concern was not limited to a single failure to disclose, but rather that this failure persisted throughout the period from 2019 to 2021, suggesting a pattern of behaviour rather than an isolated oversight.”
Despite a number of positive character references, the panel found Miss Till guilty of unacceptable professional conduct, and found that she had made a “deliberate decision” not to inform the school of her relationship.
It was also found that her actions may have brought the profession into disrepute.
As a result, she has now been prohibited from teaching indefinitely and cannot gain employment in any school, college, children’s care home or youth accommodation.
She can apply for this prohibition order to be set aside after two years.
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