TEACHER STRUCK OFF AFTER ONLINE SEX CHATS
A former supply teacher found to have had sexually explicit conversations online with so-called paedophile hunters pretending to be children, has been struck off the teaching register.Miguel Pastor was walking to work at a primary school in Reading when members of the group confronted him and livestreamed their interaction in June 2019.
He was arrested and bailed by police but was told he would face no further action in September 2019.
The Teaching Regulation Agency (TRA) said it has been given sexually explicit chats which Mr Pastor had on the Kik messaging app with people who told him they were nine and 13-year-old girls.
Mr Pastor said he had carried on the conversations after being told their ages because he knew they were not children and wanted to "unmask" people who "lied about their identity" online.
The TRA said he would have had no way of knowing for sure what the age of those people messaging him was.
Mr Pastor did not attend the TRA's hearing, which proceeded in his absence and concluded at the start of the month.
The TRA said his "serious sexual misconduct had the potential to result in significant harm…had [those involved] in fact been the ages they had said they were." Mr Pastor was banned from teaching indefinitely and cannot teach in any school, sixth form college, relevant youth accommodation or children's home in England.
The agency said: "In view of the seriousness of the allegations", he will never be allowed to apply to have his registration restored.
