Ex-teacher banned after teaching panel finds 'sexual misconduct'
A former deputy head teacher has been banned indefinitely after a disciplinary panel found his behaviour towards three pupils amounted to "sexual misconduct". Simon Graves, who worked at Carlton le Willows Academy in Gedling, Nottinghamshire, also displayed serious sexually-motivated behaviour towards a colleague, a panel heard. A Teaching Regulation Agency (TRA) disciplinary panel found the 52-year-old, who was the school's safeguarding lead, "failed to adhere to professional boundaries".The decision to ban him from the profession was approved on behalf of the Secretary of State for Education.
Warning: Contains details some readers may find distressing
The panel said Mr Graves was arrested in December 2018 following allegations of sexual assault, but was found not guilty after a trial at Nottingham Crown Court in July 2021.The panel heard he had been appointed deputy head teacher "with designated safeguarding lead and pastoral responsibilities" and had set up a girls football team after joining the institution.It found he had repeated inappropriate contact with one pupil between 2010 and 2014, which included being alone with her in his car and touching or rubbing her leg "on one or more occasions".Another student said she was in Mr Graves' office when he "placed his hands either side of her shoulders and kissed [her] on the lips".He denied kissing the student, but the panel said it "was not convinced that [his] account of the minimal contact with [her] was likely", and also found he kissed her when visiting her home when her parents were not present.
The panel also found he had touched the thigh of another student when she was in his office.Regarding his former colleague, the hearing found Mr Graves forcibly kissed her when she had come to his office to apologise for being drunk at a social event the previous night, with the woman saying he would try to kiss her in empty corridors at the school.He also invited her into his office after school and "locked the door and told her to sit down" before performing a sex act.In his witness statement, Mr Graves said he and the colleague "flirted and we got on well", but denied kissing her on school premises and "was adamant" he did not perform a sex act. The panel found the allegations proven, and also found Mr Graves harassed the woman by waiting by her car after school and had turned up at her home address.Finding that his conduct "could potentially damage the public's perception of a teacher", the panel recommended a ban from teaching "without provisions for a review period".It said: "Whilst there is evidence that Mr Graves had ability as an educator, the panel considered that the adverse public interest considerations above outweigh any interest in retaining Mr Graves in the profession, since his behaviour fundamentally breached the standard of conduct expected of a teacher, and he sought to exploit his position of trust."
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