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Feminism: Sex and gender discussions

Feminism: chat

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Original poster

How does something like this happen? Teacher who had sex with four female pupils made school safeguarding lead

24 replies

Ihaventgottimeforthis · 29/07/2019 17:46

Male teacher jailed for sexual activity with four female pupils.
'The court heard he had previously been investigated by the school but was subsequently promoted to assistant head teacher and head of safeguarding.'
I'm gobsmacked by this.

www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-hampshire-49149498

OP posts:

Fraggling · 29/07/2019 17:53

Bloody hell

Shows how good at manipluation these predators are

Imnobody4 · 29/07/2019 18:02

I'm not surprised. I've had conversations with more than one teacher sympathizing with a colleague accused of abuse. They really don't have a clue that charm and likeability is the modus operandi of a successful predator.

OvaHere · 29/07/2019 18:03

Unbelievable. Shows how seriously safeguarding is taken in some places.

Doyoumind · 29/07/2019 18:07

Unbelievable. Even if they thought he was innocent after the allegations, to make him safeguarding lead was ridiculous. There was a huge red flag waving. Innocent until proven guilty but not when it's a safeguarding matter.

FormerMediocreMale · 29/07/2019 18:08

Predators will go to any lengths to get what they want. His job would have given him a good understanding of the system in order to get around it.

I wonder what brought on the original investigation, the miscarriage? That could have provided DNA evidence but if the girl refused to disclose then testing was peobably never carried out. Police gatekeeping in England is appalling for sexual assaults on minors.

happydappy2 · 29/07/2019 18:10

youngest victim was 13-news report it that he 'had sex with' NO he raped her.

ArranUpsideDown · 29/07/2019 18:14

I don't remember if it's Gottman or some other psychologist who is known for any ability to detect liars and comments on relationships...

However he said that if he ever met someone who was so delightful that he wanted to invite them home to dinner that evening = he knows that he's met a sociopath.

The ability of sociopaths to be affable and charming puts them in these positions and makes it so hard for people to believe otherwise.

LizzieSiddal · 29/07/2019 18:17

How awful!

I'm glad to see he got 12 years.

truthisarevolutionaryact · 29/07/2019 18:21

He made himself untouchable - he was considered to be 'charismatic', he was able to silence the girls he abused and was exonerated in an investigation. It is very difficult to refuse to appoint someone if they meet all the selection criteria. It can be done (and fortunately is) but it's very difficult as a panel interviewing has to be able to clearly evidence why another candidate is better.
It's yet another example of how easy it is to compromise safeguarding if an individual or group becomes unchallengeable.

MockerstheFeManist · 29/07/2019 18:26

Well Chris Woodhead was made Chief Inspector of Schools, and David Blunkett was told by Tony Robinson and others at the school where he was 'active' told him all about it, but Blunkett still kept him on.

RoyalCorgi · 29/07/2019 19:48

Sexual predators are so often likeable and charismatic. In schools, they tend to be the teacher who takes on the jobs others don't want to do - taking kids on overnight trips, outings to the the theatre etc. There's a reason for that. I think the prevailing myth is that sexual predators are somehow obvious to spot because they'll be creepy and a bit weird. Not true, unfortunately.

CaptainKirksSpookyghost · 29/07/2019 20:01

Peadophiles in power.

Nothing is going to change anytime soon either.

OhHolyJesus · 29/07/2019 20:19

Ted Bundy was considered to be a very charming man, to a point where women travelled from all over to see him in court.

I wish I didn't believe this could happen but clearly it has and it's only increases my paranoia.

He was on paternity leave, his poor wife.

stillathing · 29/07/2019 21:43

youngest victim was 13-news report it that he 'had sex with' NO he raped her.

This.

Interestingly i saw on twitter that an ex BBC employee is crowd funding a judicial review into BBC bias. I'm not sure about the rules for linking to crowd funders so I won't.

Voice0fReason · 29/07/2019 21:57

Head of safeguarding FFS
Predatory men are manipulators and liars.

LizzieSiddal · 29/07/2019 23:03

still could you link to the Tweet regarding the judicial review?

RevealTheLegend · 29/07/2019 23:13

Sexual predators are so often likeable and charismatic

Yes, I’ve met several, and the thing that really stuck out was how likeable they were, you felt OK, safe with them even. Charming, but not too charming.

Which is how one of the was getting away with it even into his seventies. He had a lifetime to hone his skills. Not that I think they are an enormous help to him right now in prison.

ixqik · 30/07/2019 06:08

Psychopath and narcissist. Can groom adults to be placed in a position of authority as well as grooming children for sex.

wrappedupinmyselflikeaspool · 30/07/2019 08:43

God that’s awful. It shows how keen people are to believe men doesn’t it? I imagine he got the safeguarding job to make up for his suffering when he’d been accused and maybe to ‘prove’ he was a nice man really. It’s a shame but speaking generally, outside feminism no one has even a light grip on the reality of predatory males

HandsOffMyRights · 30/07/2019 08:55

Truly awful.

Men like this believe they are untouchable and others refuse to believe it.

I too hate the way that the reporting and quotes refer to "had sex with" rather than "raped".

Haggisfish · 30/07/2019 08:58

In our safeguarding training at school, we were told we had to be really aware of the possibility of being groomed as adults by people like this. And to report ANY suspicious behaviour or rumours to relevant people. And our local authority has a number you can call if you don’t trust or feel able to tell senior leaders.

ThatDoctorEM · 30/07/2019 08:59

I agree with what commenters have written regarding the charm and charisma of predators. We need to move away from the model, often pushed by a male press and judiciary, that paedophilia is committed by loners and outcasts and that there is very little lead up to it. This man has been laying the groundwork for years - he undertook teacher training to access his preferred age of child.

One book I would recommend if you haven't read it yet is A C Salter, Predators. Content warning to high heaven on this.

Haggisfish · 30/07/2019 09:00

I had a colleague who was investigated for predatory behaviour and even I thought ‘but he’s so nice! Really?!’ He was ultimately no longer employed by the school.

ThatDoctorEM · 30/07/2019 09:04

I too wish they would say raped when reported. Legally because of the imbalance of power due to position of authority and age it is rape. In the law, it does start to get fuzzy at age 13 because of the Gillick Competence of the victim, the CPS documents have rape as the charge automatic up until 13 (happy to be corrected if it is 12). Yes, consent age is 16 but there has been a slow unnoticed chipping away at the terminology and who is considered a child and when.

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