A teacher who used an "old" school computer to view porn at home has escaped a ban - but it cost him his job. Paul Edwards, who taught at the Co-op Academy in Manchester admitted using the device to access material with titles including, 'dad', 'young', 'twink', 'teen' and 'teen slave', but none of the material was illegal, a professional conduct panel heard.
Police were informed of Mr Edwards' behaviour as was the local authority, but no further action was taken. His employment with the school ceased however after an internal investigation and a disciplinary hearing.
Mr Edwards began work at the Academy in September 2014, initially as a teaching assistant. He was subsequently employed as a mathematics teacher and, additionally, became head of family.
In December 2020, the Academy received notifications from 'ESafe' that Mr Edwards had accessed pornographic material via a device belonging to the Academy. ESafe was described as a content monitoring system for staff and pupils at the Academy.
On 23th December 2020, as result of the information the Academy made an initial referral to the local authority designated officer(LADO) and the police. But on 24th December 2020 and 30th December 2020, the Academy received further ESafe notifications, indicating that Mr Edwards had continued to access pornographic material on the same device.
A Teaching Regulation Agency report reads: "On 5th January 2021, the principal and executive head of the Academy met with Mr Edwards to raise this as a concern. During the course of the conversation that ensued it was recorded that Mr Edwards accepted accessing pornography using this device, described as an 'old' laptop.
"Despite this, the Academy received an additional notification via ESafe confirming that further inappropriate content had been accessed by Mr Edwards on or around 8th and 9th January 2021, at which point the LADO and the police were notified once again."
Mr Edwards was arrested and certain devices were seized. He was also suspended from the school. The report says: "On 19th January 2021, the Academy was notified by the LADO and the police that no further action would be taken."
The Academy carried out their own internal investigation and in April 2021, the Academy held a disciplinary hearing. At the conclusion of that hearing, Mr Edwards ceased employment at the Academy .and Mr Edwards was referred to the TRA.
The TRA report says its panel was satisfied, the material Mr Edwards accessed was not illegal and, on the basis of the evidence presented, did not involve participants who were under the age of consent.
It adds however: "The panel was satisfied that the conduct of Mr Edwards amounted to misconduct of a serious nature which fell significantly short of the standards expected of the profession. The panel took account of the fact that Mr Edwards' actions did not directly involve pupils and was private in nature, in that it took place at his home.
"There was no suggestion that Mr Edwards ever accessed such material whilst in work. However, Mr Edwards' conduct was brought within the education setting by the fact that he used equipment belonging to the Academy, albeit utilising an old device. Mr Edwards was aware that it was an Academy device and would have been required to access it using his relevant log in details. Mr Edwards' actions also amounted to a clear breach of the Academy's code of conduct and electronic communications policy. In all the circumstances, Mr Edwards had exhibited poor judgement."
The panel was satisfied that Mr Edwards was guilty of unacceptable professional conduct and that his actions constituted conduct that may bring the profession into disrepute.
But it concluded there was no doubt about Mr Edwards' ability as a teacher and positive testimonials and character references were submitted on his behalf. The report added: "Mr Edwards had a previous good history. He had an otherwise unblemished record whereby there was no evidence that Mr Edwards had been subject to any previous regulatory or disciplinary proceedings." It added that Mr Edwards had shown remorse and regret.
The panel chose not to issue a prohibition order against Mr Edwards. The report says: "In arriving at this conclusion, the panel had in mind that whilst Mr Edwards had made mistakes and exhibited poor judgement, he had already suffered the consequences in terms of his departure from the Academy.
"The panel's findings may well have a consequential impact in terms of his professional reputation and employment prospects. In the panel's judgement, for the reasons outlined, the risk of repetition of the same or similar conduct was low. The panel was also satisfied that its decision was sufficient to maintain public confidence and to uphold professional standards"
