TEACHER BANNED FOR SEXUAL RELATIONSHIP WITH STUDENT
A TEACHER has been banned from working in children's education after he admitted to having a sexual relationship with a pupil over two decades ago.Lee Butler was found guilty of unacceptable professional conduct and conduct that may bring the profession into disrepute by the Teaching Regulation Agency earlier this month.
The 49-year-old was working at a high school and sixth form in Worcestershire in 2003 when he began a relationship with the student.
The pair met in September 2001, when Butler became the pupil's teacher while studying AS-level media studies.
According to the former student, the relationship with Butler began in April or May 2003, when she drove him home after 'social drinks'.
The relationship occurred mostly outside of school, at the teacher's home, and ended around a year later at the direction of the pupil, the TRA's report said.
Butler also lied about the relationship to a school in Shropshire where he was employed in 2020, conceding he had "displayed poor judgement" when he told them the relationship started after the pupil left school.
While “there did not appear to be an express prohibition against a teacher having a sexual relationship with a pupil” in 2003, the panel found “this does not mean that it was acceptable in any shape or form, more that it had not been identified as a priority issue for guidance at that time”.
The panel found Mr Butler’s actions “displayed moral culpability” and “amounted to misconduct of a serious nature which fell significantly short of the standards expected of the teaching profession”.
While the panel acknowledged his “previously unblemished character” and “clear commitment to working as a teacher and supporting children”, it found it was not sufficient to mitigate the circumstances, adding “prohibition was both proportionate and appropriate”.
Mr Butler was banned from teaching indefinitely on February 2, and cannot teach in any school, sixth form college, relevant youth accommodation or children’s home in England and is entitled to apply for restoration of his eligibility to teach.
