English teacher acting inappropriately in a foreign country.

[ohyesohno]

I've lived in the UK for most of my adult live but I am still very much involved with my home country, which is in Asia. I have recently come across a social media account of an English guy teaching English to kids in my home town. Putting aside that the guy should not be teaching grammar to anyone as he can barely write himself, in many photos he is very close to children, mainly young girls, touching and hugging them, which would be considered completely inappropriate in the local culture. A recent photo made it to the social media account of an activist working with victims of sexual violence. The picture was too upsetting to post it, but suffice to say it would raise more than a few eyebrows here in the UK. In response, the 'teacher' has recorded a defiant message calling out 'disgusting behaviour of disgusting people' and threatened the activist with his lawyers - the video and the photo have since been deleted.
There is no way he would behave like this here in the UK. He is taking advantage of the fact that in my country people are more trusting, less aware of sexual predators and the regulations are not as strict. The role of a 'cool foreigner' allows him to do things that they would not accept from a local man of the same age. Being British he must be aware that what he is doing is inappropriate - and this is only judging from photos he posted online, god knows what happens in the classroom. Even giving him the full benefit of doubt, what he does is dangerous as he is teaching children not to respect boundaries or value their personal space etc.
We have already alerted the authorities back home and he will be investigated. I am slightly worried that they may not be able to do much in the absence of 'actual' crime and that parents are unlikely to complain in order to avoid unnecessary publicity for the kids. In any case, we are doing what we can.
AIBU to think that I should be able to do more? is there anything I can do in the UK to stop him from working with children in the future? Presumably, he can always move to another country and start again even if we succeed back home?

Sorry. AIBU is about worrying about the situation and spending the whole day thinking about what to do.

Sorry, let me get this straight.

You don't know this person? You've never met them? And you're basing all of this information on your so called extensive knowledge of a country you've not lived in for years?

What.

I live there for several months a year. I based my information on (1) pictures that I saw with my own eyes; (2) the reaction of friends who live there all the time; (3) my knowledge of standards of behaviour in the UK - I had to go through DBS/CRB checks to just be a fully supervised volunteer around children.
True I haven't met the person. I am not implying any more than what I can see with my own eyes - which is using position of trust to put children in an inappropriate situation breaking their personal boundaries - and that alone is inappropriate both back home and in the UK.

@ohyesohno

I would honestly find some way other to spend your time.

Actually, OP this is quite a known problem. If I remember correctly there was a teacher producing material that was inappropriate as teaching material (it depicted girls behaving a certain way) and was picked up by the authorities. I think, but am not 100% sure, the British Council was made aware of it and there have been many concerns and complaints made about 'teachers' abroad so they have looked into regulating the field better. Trust your instincts on this.

No advise but I think you are right to be wary of this

The activist who works with victims of sexual assault found the picture disturbing and so did 150+ people commenting on the post. I think this should be enough for me to be concerned. But I wonder if I can do more being actually based in the UK..

For this peticulr case, no I don, think you can do much. However are there charities/support groups in your home country which you can get involved with/ or do you know the checks there are in your home country for teachers? Are they strict enough?

@serenada Thank you! I will contact the British Council.

The picture was too upsetting to post it, but suffice to say it would raise more than a few eyebrows here in the UK.

Why? What is going on in the picture?

What is actually happening in the picture? If he's touching children in an obviously sexual way then surely he isn't daft enough to post them on mainstream social media.

Oh it’s extremely likely that he’s gone there specifically to access children. Why did Gary Glitter go to Cambodia do you think? I know of a senior Dr who was investigated for sex abuse cases overseas but getting the children to give evidence proved the stumbling block. I’m not sure if its worth raising with the authorities here since you have no evidence of an offence just a suspicion. However there are occasions when someone can be prosecuted for acts that would be offences in the U.K when committed overseas, even if they’re not offences in the country itself. Is there a professional body like TEFL or the school that you could raise your concerns to?

@june2007 The problem is that the regulations are not as strict as they are here and there is a general lack of awareness among parents and authorities about dangers of child grooming and molesting. We have reported this man to the authorities and he will be investigated, I just don't want him to continue somewhere else in the world.

Yes, of course you’re right to be worried. Don’t let anyone tell you you’re not.

It's unlikely that his school is regulated by the BC as they inspect and regulate schools in the UK mostly. If he's a common or garden EFL teacher he's more likely to be working for a cowboy organisation that makes no checks whatsoever.
I have had a teacher (in the UK) rock up to begin his employment with us and request immediately to work only with a certain group of students which set alarm bells off. He didn't last a week with us. I've also had a teacher obsessed with girls from a certain country and a certain ethnic origin. Sadly, it's a highly unregulated business we're in, and all too often in the 27 years I've been doing the job you come across teachers for whom actual teaching is the last thing on their mind.
If you know the name of the school you could contact them?

Section 72 legislation in respect of child sexual abuse was introduced in the Sexual Offences Act 2003, section 72, and gives power to the police and National Crime Agency to try citizens of the UK in UK courts for offences committed abroad. This is irrespective of whether the sexual act committed abroad is considered an offence in that country.

I would in the first instance speak to the police in the UK in light of the above legislation.

Also, please read the information in this report for more information.
You may be able to get more advice by ringing the number of Sinead at the bottom of the page ECPAT UK

If more people like you were concerned about vulnerable children abroad, disgusting predators like this man would think twice before ‘travelling abroad’.

Quite.
Also astonishing to see posters telling the OP to mind her own business and find something better to do with her time.
Well done OP.

Report it to the police here in the UK. They will be interested in this case. Well done on you for keeping an eye out and protecting children.

I cannot believe there are PP condoning this....

One of the principle rule of safeguarding is to be aware that anything can happen at any point. This seems so blatant, especially from someone from the UK who would be aware of our safeguarding practices, that id be shocked if nothing untoward was going on.

Report @ohyesohno xxx

Yes, I agree. I think the police here would be interested especially if there are photographs.

[quote ScarMatty]@ohyesohno

I would honestly find some way other to spend your time. [/quote]

There are some right pricks on MN OP, please ignore them and do the right thing - report to anyone who will listen.

You've reported it there and I think you can report it here. I mean, you might as well try, worst that can happen is they tell you it's out of their jurisdiction or whatever.

I wouldn't spend the whole day thinking about it, since there's not much more you can do and you have no evidence he's actually committed any crime. Let the authorities investigate, that's their job.

I’d report it.
If he was genuinely acting innocently then he’d be able to defend himself.
Any posters who say “back off” are being naive.
If everyone backed off , sexual predators would never get caught and victims will never get listened to.
It is complicit silence, in the name of “ nothing to do with you” that perpetuates these crimes.

I think you are right to be concerned OP. Do you know if he has been employed directly by the institution, or is he doing a VSO or gap year type of "teaching". If you can find that out it will go a long way to deciding what to do next and who to approach.

Scarmatty if someone has a child safeguarding concern they should just look the other way and find something else to do?