A former teacher who was imprisoned for raping a child while serving as deputy head at a primary school has been permanently barred from returning to the teaching profession, according to The BBC. Julie Morris, now 46 years old, held the position of 'safeguarding lead' at St George's Central Primary School in Tyldesley, near Wigan, when she engaged in acts of 'grave sexual depravity' with her mechanic boyfriend.
After Morris was convicted and sentenced, her case was referred to the Teaching Regulation Agency (TRA), responsible for handling misconduct cases. A three-person panel was convened on February 19 of this year to review her case. At Morris' request, the proceedings were conducted without a public hearing and without Morris being present, as per the news outlet.
The panel concluded that Morris' actions were 'fundamentally incompatible with her being a teacher,' leading to her permanent ban from the profession.
The panel's report said: "The fact Ms Morris was also the safeguarding lead at her school makes her offence all the more shocking in that, while 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."
It also found that "there is a real risk of Ms Morris repeating her offending behaviour" and noted that her actions were "deliberate and sustained, and there was no evidence that she was acting under duress.".
David Oatley, who made the decision to prohibit her from teaching, added in his report: "In view of the seriousness of the allegations found proved against her, I have decided that Ms Morris shall not be entitled to apply for restoration of her eligibility to teach."
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