A teacher accused of engaging in inappropriate contact on social media with several young girls from a secondary school where he had worked has been described as a “predator” by the mother of one of the students.
The claim was made at an inquiry by the Teaching Council into the conduct of a male teacher in his mid-20s who is accused of seven counts of professional misconduct and breaching the Code of Professional Conduct for Teachers.
The inquiry heard that the teacher had told one of the girls in a text message on Snapchat that she was a “little ride”, while he sent a part-topless photo of himself to another teenager.
The council’s disciplinary committee ruled that the teacher, school and parties involved in the case cannot be identified.
The inquiry heard the teacher worked as a student teacher and subsequently a substitute teacher at the school between September and December 2019.
Inappropriate contact
He is accused of inappropriately contacting six female students from the school, who were aged 13-14 years at the time, via Snapchat on unknown dates between September 2019 and July 2020.
The teacher also faced a separate charge of inappropriately contacting another young girl for a different school in the same locality and sending her inappropriate messages.
Counsel for the Teaching Council, Eoghan O’Sullivan BL, said three of the six girls from the school had accepted the teacher’s request to be added to his contacts on Snapchat.
Mr O’Sullivan said the three other students had blocked his request because they had been alerted to his identity by their schoolmates.
He told the inquiry on Thursday that the Teaching Council believed the very fact of attempting to communicate with children on social media was “utterly inappropriate.”
Although some of the messages were “benign”, Mr O’Sullivan said they were not always so.
He pointed out that the teacher had persistently asked one girl to send him a selfie, even after she had pointed out she was only 13, that he had been her teacher and that it was inappropriate.
Mr O’Sullivan said the girl had reacted maturely and responsibly to the situation and ceased communication with the teacher very quickly.
The inquiry heard that some parents had complained to the school about the teacher who advised them to contact gardaí, Tusla and the Teaching Council.
Mr O’Sullivan said the teacher had initially denied contacting students via Snapchat when interviewed by Tusla but made admissions after he was presented with screenshots of text exchanges with one of the girls.
“This conduct, if proven, is inimical to the principles that underpin the profession of teaching,” Mr O’Sullivan remarked.
Formal complaint
The mother of one of the girls who made a formal complaint to the Teaching Council told the inquiry that she was alerted about the teacher by her sister whose daughter was also one of the students contacted on Snapchat.
The inquiry heard that the woman’s niece had replied to the teacher in a message that he was “a f**king paedo.”
The woman said the teacher had asked her daughter how old she was and that she had replied that she was 14.
In response, he texted: “20. Sorry. F**k. Little ride and all. Shouldn’t say that.”
The woman said her daughter was very upset about the matter, while she admitted she was angry that the teacher had regarded her daughter “as a target.”
The witness said she made a complaint to the Teaching Council as she knew it was not an isolated incident or mistake as she had discovered that the teacher had made similar approaches to other children in the school and elsewhere.
“It was very clear that the man was a predator and would keep on going until he got someone to respond in the way he wanted,” she added.
Six of the girls contacted by the teacher also gave evidence via videolink with several claiming his behaviour was “a bit weird”.
Others said they immediately unfriended him once he admitted he was in his 20s.
The girl who was asked for a selfie said the teacher had repeatedly made her a Snapchat contact despite “unfriending” him twice and told her that she was “always my favourite student” after she had promised she would not tell anyone about their text exchanges.
A social worker with Tusla said the teacher had been referred to them by gardai in July 2020 but that an assessment had concluded that the Garda National Vetting Bureau did not need to be notified of the case.
However, he said the GNVB was informed about the teacher’s conduct after Tusla received a second referral from a parent in June 2021 when it was clear that there had been inappropriate sexualised contact.
The teacher, who has been a registered post-primary teacher since 2019, did not attend the inquiry and was not legally represented at the hearing.
In a letter to the disciplinary committee, however, he claimed he was caring for his sick father and looking after his father’s business.
The teacher explained that he had kept the fact that he was facing a Teaching Council inquiry a secret from all but one member of his family.
He also outlined how he had issues with his mental health and had struggled with alcohol for several years.
The teacher said he was “under pressure” like never before around the start of the Covid-19 pandemic due to his father’s illness and the break-up of his relationship with his girlfriend which had caused him “stress, worries, heartbreak and depression.”
He described how he had lost his position in the school after missing a class due to a hangover.
The inquiry heard the teacher moved abroad to work because the issue in the school was “the talk of the area” and he went “into a tailspin.”
However, he said he was constantly worried in his new teaching post that he would still be the subject of gossip as there were other teachers there from his home county .
He claimed he spent days where he barely left his room.
After returning to Ireland, the teacher said he was terrified that news of the allegations against him would get out.
He claimed he already received threats and was called “horrible names” while playing hurling and on social media.
In the letter, he apologised for what had happened and noted that the life he had wished for himself “is now ruined” as his name would always have “a tarnished reputation.”
“I think I’m a good teacher. I believe I’m a good person,” he wrote.
The teacher also stated in correspondence that he thought he would be “terrible” if he appeared before the hearing but stressed that he did not wish his non-attendance to be interpreted as not caring about the situation.
A representative of a teacher-training college told the inquiry that there had been no issue about the teacher’s conduct during his time as a student teacher, and he had graduated successfully.
The inquiry was adjourned until July 6th when the case is expected to conclude.
