A former teacher who was imprisoned for sexually assaulting a child while she was deputy head at a primary school school has been prohibited from returning to the profession.
Julie Morris, now 46, was working at St George’s Central Primary School in Tyldesley, near Wigan, where she was the ‘safeguarding lead’ when she committed the acts of ‘grave sexual depravity’ with her mechanic boyfriend.
After being convicted and sentenced, she was referred to the Teaching Regulation Agency (TRA), who deals with cases of misconduct.
A three-person panel was gathered to hear her case on February 19 this year. At Morris’ request, it was done without a public hearing and Morris being present.
They determined that her actions were ‘fundamentally incompatible with her being a teacher.’
A report outlining their findings says: ‘Her conduct contradicted what should be at the very core of the practice of a teacher with a duty of care towards children.
‘The panel considered that Ms Morris’ behavior in committing these offenses would undoubtedly affect public confidence in the teaching profession, particularly given the influence that teachers may have on pupils, parents and others in the community.
‘Her conduct contradicted what should be at the very core of the practice of a teacher with a duty of care towards children.
‘The fact that Ms Morris was also the safeguarding lead at her school makes her offending all the more shocking in that, whilst the designated point of contact for welfare and safety concerns at the School, she herself was engaged in abusing a child, albeit not one at the school.’
However they also found that her offending was ‘deliberate and sustained, and there was no evidence that she was acting under duress.’ They added there was a ‘real risk of Ms Morris repeating her offending.’
After their findings, a decision maker acting on behalf of the Secretary of State banned her from teaching indefinitely on February 27.
It means she cannot teach in any school, sixth form college, youth accommodation or children’s home.
The court heard she and partner David Morris filmed themselves abusing and sexually assaulting the victim, a girl under 13, in a series of videos discovered on his phone.
The teacher, wearing glasses, a face mask and a cream cable-knit jumper, was also ordered to serve a licence period of four years after her 13 year prison sentence.
David Morris was imprisoned for 16 years, with an extended licence period of four years, for 34 offenses, including seven counts of rape and 13 counts of causing or inciting a child under 13 to engage in sexual activity.
Prosecutors revealed the disturbing videos showed Julie Morris giggling as the abuse took place.
As well as videos and images on David Morris’s phone, officers examined 175,000 pages of messages between the couple, revealing sexually explicit communications.
One person who was harmed was called ‘our little plaything’ and engaged in a detailed group conversation with a target.
Julie Morris accepted that she committed the crimes but said during a police interview that the victim had wanted to participate.
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