PRIMARY SCHOOL TEACHER CAUGHT SHARING CHILD ABUSE IMAGES AND VIDEOS
A primary school teacher who searched for "Japanese schoolgirls" and "jailbait" has been dismissed after police found he shared indecent images and videos of children as young as six.Steven Spong, 30, was teaching at Monkwick Junior School in Colchester when he was arrested in July 2022 following the discovery that he had uploaded child abuse images online.
He was sacked by the school in October 2022 after a police investigation into his behaviour.
The misconduct hearing revealed police had identified 16 videos and images uploaded from Spong's home IP address, including nine videos in category A, featuring children as young as six.
Despite an investigation, police decided to take no further action as the images were not found on his devices.
Instead, he was referred to the Teaching Regulation Agency (TRA).
The police identified multiple uploads, including Category B and C content.
The misconduct hearing, held this year, found that Spong admitted to searching for terms like "Japanese teenagers" and "Japanese schoolgirls" to find pornographic images of minors, with the conduct being sexually motivated.
The panel noted that the behaviour took place outside the school but related directly to his role as an educator, especially considering the involvement of children.
Spong was barred from teaching permanently and cannot appeal the decision.
