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Irish Times
2 days ago
- Irish Times
‘He wanted to have sex': Fitness to teach inquiry hears allegations teacher drove student to driveway of old factory
A fitness-to-teach inquiry has heard testimony from a former Leaving Certificate student of how a teacher picked her up from her estate after school and brought her to the driveway of an old factory. 'He wanted to have sex, I wasn't sure. I remember trying to get over to the driver's side, I remember the clunkiness of it,' the witness told the inquiry on Wednesday. She has complained to the Teaching Council that while she was an 18-year-old student, a teacher at her school had sexual encounters with her on four to six occasions between March and June 2018. The complainant also alleges that she and the teacher sent communications to each other on Snapchat, the social media app, many of which were of a sexually explicit nature, including photos of a penis and nude photos of the complainant. READ MORE The teacher, who was not present, submitted that the complainant's case was a weak one which lacked detail. He submitted the case contained inconsistencies regarding dates, that the complainant had narrowed the date range on which the sexual encounters occurred on to between March and April 2018, and he noted the complainant said the sexual relationship was consensual. The teacher, who has been registered since 2016 taught in the school for five years. He is now working at another school and submitted that he has 'an exemplary record of service in both schools'. The complainant alleged that after speaking with her best friend and classmate, she found out the teacher was also sending inappropriate messages to her, messages which he had also sent to the complainant. The complainant further related how at the time of the allegations she was not in a positive mental state. She said she was drinking alcohol, had issues with food and that two years previously was hospitalised and that the teacher was aware of her mental health issues. She outlined a pattern of deleting the teacher from Snapchat and adding him again if she was struggling and as a means of coping. She felt he had a duty of care to her as a student and that he took advantage of her poor judgment. She said he encouraged her drinking and he sometimes provided her with cigarettes when he would pick her up in his car close to her home. She said while she did okay in her Leaving Certificate, her experiences that year with the teacher had an effect on her. She told how days before the exams she forwarded a letter to her best friend which outlined some details of the behaviour between herself and the teacher, but not the sexual nature of it as the teacher had convinced her not to. Neasa Bird, BL for the director of the Teaching Council, said that it is her client's contention that there is a prima-facie case of professional misconduct and a breach of the Code of Professional Conduct for Teachers. The complainant, with the assistance of a trusted friend, previously submitted videos to the Teaching Council of her scrolling down through some of the Snapchat communications she had saved. The complainant also said the teacher's behaviour was manipulatory, that he had groomed her before having a sexual relationship with her. She related how the teacher provided her with a study plan when she was struggling with her mental health even though he was not one of her teachers. However, she felt this intervention was a tactic on his part to reassert him as a responsible adult, another method of gaining her trust. She related how she first came into contact with him when she obtained two lessons of additional tuition from him in August 2017, when she was 17. She said he added her, accidentally he said, on Snapchat that October. The complainant had turned 18 the previous month. She said a message from the teacher to her on Facebook, even though they were not Facebook friends, in December 2022 offering his congratulations to her on graduating from university spurred her to make her complaint to the Teaching Council. It was decided at a preliminary hearing that there would be no disclosure of the name of the school or of any information which would reveal the identity of any witnesses. The panel also ruled today that this order of anonymity would not extend to the name of the teacher. The inquiry will reconvene on Tuesday, July 15th.
Sunday World
2 days ago
- Sunday World
Teacher had sex with Leaving Cert student in her mother's bed, tribunal told
She told a fitness-to-teach inquiry that at one point he said it would be 'hot' if she wore her school uniform during sex A schoolteacher had sex with a Leaving Cert student in her mother's bed and his car after sharing explicit photos with her on Snapchat, it is alleged. The then 18-year-old said she was 'naive and vulnerable' when her class head teacher started an inappropriate relationship with her in the months before she sat her exams. She told a fitness-to-teach inquiry that at one point he said it would be 'hot' if she wore her school uniform during sex. It is further alleged that on their sixth year graduation night, he kissed the complainant's best friend, who described the teacher's behaviour as 'predatory.' The man is accused of professional misconduct and breaching the Code of Professional Conduct for Teachers, which he denies. The inquiry is being held by the Teaching Council following a complaint by a student known as Ms A, now in her 20s. It is alleged the teacher inappropriately communicated with her on Snapchat between October 2017 and June 2018, and sent her messages, photos, pictures and memes of an inappropriate and sexual nature between January and June, 2018. He is alleged to have provided her with alcohol and had an inappropriate sexual relationship with her between March and June that year. Further allegations relate to her friend, Ms B, who he allegedly touched and kissed in a pub in May 2018. Stock image: Getty News in 90 Seconds - July 10th Ms A said the teacher had given her maths grinds in 2017 but 'nothing untoward' happened. He added her on Snapchat late that year and as they exchanged messages, it was not her intention for anything romantic to happen, but she continued out of curiosity. The teacher was aged 28 at the time and had two children. 'I knew it was weird to speak to a teacher over Snapchat and I shouldn't be doing it,' Ms A said. He complimented her and joked about 'going off with a student.' The frequency and intimacy of the messages slowly increased and he started making sexual advances towards her, the inquiry heard. He 'tested the waters of what he could say to me' and as she became more responsive, it 'escalated' and they exchanged explicit photos. 'He would send me d**k pics of his genitals and I would send him nude pictures in return,' she said. He would 'encourage my alcohol use, knowing it would lower my inhibitions', saying 'you will be horny', she alleged. She said he told her she was better looking than her friends and asked about her boyfriend, saying to her: 'What are you doing with him?' She 'knew it was wrong' and felt that she cared more about the repercussions than she did, she said. She had mental health issues and was coping in ways that were 'wrong and unhealthy.' They first met after school in March 2018 when he dropped her home in his car, she continued. The next day, she alleged they went to her house while she was drunk and her mother was out. 'I kind of knew this was where it was going, it felt inevitable,' she said. 'I still had a bunk bed so we went into my mother's bed and had sex.' She alleged he later said of her boyfriend: 'Just tell him that you f**ked a teacher in your mam's bed.' When they allegedly had sex in his car, she 'felt reluctant and awkward' and she did not like 'the clunkiness of it.' She said it was 'too real' for her and she recalled being able to see his child's car seat, where he left a bottle of vodka he bought her. She said he told her they had not had sex while she was in her school uniform, saying 'that would be hot'. They also had sex in his apartment, she said. Some of the messages alleged to have been between the teacher and Ms A were retrieved, barrister Neasa Bird, for the director of the Teaching Council, said. In one message the man allegedly told Ms A his mother was asking if he was seeing an 'old one' and he told her 'no, she's the complete opposite, ha ha, a young one'. According to the message, his mother replied: 'Please say she's f**king legal.' Ms A said she believed he thought this was 'hilarious.' 'To be fair, your mother's allowed to drink your wine since we rode in her bed and her couch hahahahaha,' he allegedly said in another message. Ms A told the inquiry he responded to a nude photo she sent: 'hahaha love it.' Other messages read 'Should f**k soon', 'car sex later'.' Ms B said on graduation night in May 2018, she was walking upstairs when the teacher 'slapped my bum two to three times.' As they sat talking alone, she said, he played with the bow on her dress, saying he would like to undo it. Later, they were alone again in a dark corner when he kissed her and she did not pull away. She left and was surprised he had done this on her graduation night, but 'he had always given off a creepy vibe.' She said he added her on Snapchat and sent her a message: 'you should have come back to mine.' He continued to contact her with a 'flirty undertone,' she said. He allegedly sent a screenshot of an Instagram follow request from another student with the comment 'she wants it.' He also sent her a 'd**k pic' of his genitals, she said. Ms B said she blocked him because he 'had given me the creeps' but when he asked why, added him again because she felt she had to. Ms A said when she realised he was sending them both the same messages, she sent Ms B a 'sugarcoated' letter telling her about the relationship without disclosing its sexual nature. Ms Bird, for the director of the council, said the teacher had made submissions maintaining the complaint against him 'lacks detail'. He was not required to be present at the inquiry, and Ms Bird read from the submissions. In them, he stated allegations from Ms A including that he kissed her best friend on graduation night were not corroborated. He noted that the letter Ms A sent to Ms B stated 'nothing sexual occurred'. He said there were 'significant doubts' as to the credibility of her account, her case was a 'weak one' and there was 'no public interest' in referring it to inquiry. There was 'nothing to suggest he had anything other than an exemplary record of teaching,' he submitted. The inquiry continues next week.
Sunday World
04-07-2025
- Sunday World
Student denies female teacher ‘groomed' him but they had sex after Leaving Cert
Now in his 20s, the man was giving evidence at an inquiry into alleged professional misconduct by the teacher at a Dublin school in 2018. A young man has denied that his female English teacher 'groomed' him while he was a Leaving Cert student, although they had sex in a hotel after the exams were finished. The then-18-year-old said apart from the single sexual encounter with the teacher, they were not romantically involved before or since and denied that they exchanged daily Snapchat messages while he was still at school. He also insisted he had no reason to tell 'untruths' in an attempt to 'protect' her. Now in his 20s, the man was giving evidence at an inquiry into alleged professional misconduct by the teacher at a Dublin school in 2018. She is denying allegations that she had a romantic relationship with the student that summer and exchanged photos or videos with him on Snapchat every day between June 14 and his final Leaving Cert exam on June 20. It is claimed the daily messages continued while he was awaiting his exam results, until August 14 that year. Photo: Getty Today's News in 90 Seconds - July 4th She is also alleged to have had a sexual encounter with him on a date in early August, and though she accepts this took place, she maintains it was a 'one-off" and did not amount to misconduct. The fitness-to-teach inquiry is being held by the Teaching Council following a complaint by the school principal, after the woman's ex-partner discovered the alleged affair and reported it to her colleagues. The council says the allegations amount to 'disgraceful or dishonourable professional conduct of such seriousness as to bring the profession into disrepute' and are contrary to the Code of Professional Conduct for Teachers. Today, the former student gave evidence that one night in August, 2018 he was at a pub with work friends in Dublin city centre when he noticed the teacher and approached her. 'I walked over and maybe said hello," he said. "We were talking for a while and we just ended up going to a hotel near where we were.' The teacher's barrister Eoghan Cole SC asked him if there was a 'connection" as they talked. 'Yeah maybe,' he replied. He did not think anything physical happened in the pub, but agreed there was 'flirting.' They both decided to leave together but he was not sure which of them suggested it. He was not involved in any pre-booking of the hotel room and was not sure if the teacher had booked it. 'We just ended up spending the night, I don't remember how that happened, or who suggested it, maybe I did,' he said. 'During the course of when you were in the hotel, you had sex together,' Mr Cole asked. 'Yeah,' the witness replied. He was 'pretty sure' the next morning the teacher left before him. They did not exchange numbers and had no contact of any kind before or since, he said. He knew nothing about the allegations until his former principal phoned his parents in 2019. He said when he heard it was alleged there was 'grooming going on' his reaction was: 'that's not me, that's nothing to do with me.' 'That is completely false,' he told the inquiry, and he 'wanted to clear it up.' Snapchat messages purporting to be between him and the teacher were submitted and he denied this was his account, saying he was not using the platform at the time and never had his teacher as a friend or contact on any social media. He also denied he had ever been at the teacher's house or that they had spent another night together in her car, as had been claimed. Cross-examined by Eoghan O'Sullivan BL, for the director, the witness said he had only ever had a normal 'teacher-student relationship' with the woman, who taught him in fifth and sixth year. He said he had no reason to tell untruths to protect her as 'I don't really know her outside of what happened that night, and school.' He was asked about Facebook messages alleged to have been between the woman's ex- partner and him in early September 2018. The ex was alleged to have tried to phone him after finding the teenager's messages to the teacher. 'Who the f**k are you and why are you texting my girlfriend?', the ex had said, explaining: 'Your teacher, you little muppet. I seen the messages.' The teenager allegedly replied: 'Just talking to her about absolute bollocks because I get on with her. Nothing more than that, if that's what you're thinking. (She) is my teacher, pal, there's hardly anything going on with her.' These messages were 'completely inconsistent' with his assertion that he had no other contact with her, Mr O'Sullivan said. The witness said he could not say for sure if it was him in the messages as he did not remember it, and did not recognise the Facebook profile. Mr O'Sullivan put it to him that it would have been a 'memorable event' if he had a sexual encounter with someone who was recently his teacher and her irate partner contacted him to 'get to the bottom of' what was going on. Mr O'Sullivan also said it would have been 'unusual' if he and the teacher did not kiss or touch before they got to the hotel, if there was no form of relationship already. The witness replied he just 'wouldn't be like that in general' in public. He did not 'tell his mates' about the sexual encounter, saying 'it wasn't really that big a thing for me, to be brutally honest.' The inquiry was told earlier that the teacher is now working at a different Dublin school. Chairperson Fergal McCarthy adjourned the hearing which will continue on a later date. When it concludes, a disciplinary panel will assess the evidence and if the allegations are found to be proven, potential sanctions range from "advice" on future conduct to removal of a teacher from the register.
Irish Times
04-07-2025
- Irish Times
Former Leaving Cert student denies he was groomed by teacher
A former Leaving Cert student has denied that he was groomed by his teacher or that he was in a romantic relationship with her. The young man told a fitness-to-teach inquiry that a sexual encounter with the teacher came about by chance in early August 2018. The inquiry concerns allegations that the teacher, who taught English in a Dublin school, was in a romantic relationship with the then Leaving Cert student, who was 18 years old, during the summer of 2018. It is further alleged that she and the student exchanged at least one photograph and/or video on the social media app Snapchat on a daily basis from June 14th to June 20th, 2018 while he was sitting his Leaving Cert exams and subsequently until August 14th, while he awaited his results. The teacher denies these allegations. READ MORE The Director of the Teaching Council also alleges that the teacher had a sexual encounter with the student on a date unknown in early August 2018, which the teacher has admitted to. The former secondary school student, who is now 25 years old, in his evidence for the teacher, outlined that he had 'just a normal teacher-student relationship' with her. After he finished his Leaving Cert exams he began a retail job in Dublin to allow him to attend university. He then explained how the sexual encounter with the teacher in August came about. On the date in question he and a number of his then work colleagues went on a social night out. 'It was maybe for a birthday, I think we went to a restaurant and then to a pub or a late bar,' the witness said, and who agreed the group were 'going out, out'. In the pub the witness noticed the teacher who appeared to be socialising with a group of people. 'I approached [teacher's first name and second name], I think I said 'hello'. We were talking for a good while, maybe 20 minutes, we had a few drinks, I wasn't drunk,' he said. He thought that there may have been flirting between him and the teacher in the pub and that a connection may have arisen between them there. 'I can't remember if I led her,' he added. He didn't think anything physical happened between them in the pub and he agreed they both decided to leave the pub together. 'I just remember the air hitting me, we ended up walking to a hotel near where we were, we ended up spending the night together,' he said. 'The next morning [teacher's first name and second name] left before [me], I left … by taxi or bus,' he added. The witness was also shown screenshots of a Snapchat profile that it was alleged was his, which he denied: 'For my Snapchat I didn't use my full name.' He was also shown a screenshot of a message that it is alleged that the teacher sent to him on Snapchat, but he responded that he had not used Snapchat since 2016 or 2017 and that he 'never had [the teacher's first name and surname] on Snapchat' or any other social media. He also denied liking any photos on the teacher's social media accounts. He was further shown screenshots of messages on the Facebook messenger app, allegedly sent between the ex-partner of the teacher and the witness, and which were aggressive and confrontational in nature. The witness said that he could not remember receiving or sending the messages but he added that he did not know who the teacher's then partner was in August 2018 or that she had a partner at that time. He said that apart from the sexual encounter in August, the last time he was talking to the teacher was at the end of May 2018 or possibly in the school during the Leaving Cert exams, as there were 'maybe a few people around'. He also denied that he was ever in the then home of the teacher and her ex-partner or that he spent the night in the teacher's car when she returned from a school trip abroad in late August 2018. Under cross examination he denied that he would tell an untruth to protect the teacher. The inquiry will resume at a future date, as yet undecided, to hear evidence from other witnesses on the part of the teacher.
Sunday World
04-07-2025
- Sunday World
Student denies female teacher ‘groomed' him but had they had sex after Leaving Cert
Now in his 20s, the man was giving evidence at an inquiry into alleged professional misconduct by the teacher at a Dublin school in 2018. A young man has denied that his female English teacher 'groomed' him while he was a Leaving Cert student, although they had sex in a hotel after the exams were finished. The then-18-year-old said apart from the single sexual encounter with the teacher, they were not romantically involved before or since and denied that they exchanged daily Snapchat messages while he was still at school. He also insisted he had no reason to tell 'untruths' in an attempt to 'protect' her. Now in his 20s, the man was giving evidence at an inquiry into alleged professional misconduct by the teacher at a Dublin school in 2018. She is denying allegations that she had a romantic relationship with the student that summer and exchanged photos or videos with him on Snapchat every day between June 14 and his final Leaving Cert exam on June 20. It is claimed the daily messages continued while he was awaiting his exam results, until August 14 that year. Photo: Getty Today's News in 90 Seconds - July 4th She is also alleged to have had a sexual encounter with him on a date in early August, and though she accepts this took place, she maintains it was a 'one-off" and did not amount to misconduct. The fitness-to-teach inquiry is being held by the Teaching Council following a complaint by the school principal, after the woman's ex-partner discovered the alleged affair and reported it to her colleagues. The council says the allegations amount to 'disgraceful or dishonourable professional conduct of such seriousness as to bring the profession into disrepute' and are contrary to the Code of Professional Conduct for Teachers. Today, the former student gave evidence that one night in August, 2018 he was at a pub with work friends in Dublin city centre when he noticed the teacher and approached her. 'I walked over and maybe said hello," he said. "We were talking for a while and we just ended up going to a hotel near where we were.' The teacher's barrister Eoghan Cole SC asked him if there was a 'connection" as they talked. 'Yeah maybe,' he replied. He did not think anything physical happened in the pub, but agreed there was 'flirting.' They both decided to leave together but he was not sure which of them suggested it. He was not involved in any pre-booking of the hotel room and was not sure if the teacher had booked it. 'We just ended up spending the night, I don't remember how that happened, or who suggested it, maybe I did,' he said. 'During the course of when you were in the hotel, you had sex together,' Mr Cole asked. 'Yeah,' the witness replied. He was 'pretty sure' the next morning the teacher left before him. They did not exchange numbers and had no contact of any kind before or since, he said. He knew nothing about the allegations until his former principal phoned his parents in 2019. He said when he heard it was alleged there was 'grooming going on' his reaction was: 'that's not me, that's nothing to do with me.' 'That is completely false,' he told the inquiry, and he 'wanted to clear it up.' Snapchat messages purporting to be between him and the teacher were submitted and he denied this was his account, saying he was not using the platform at the time and never had his teacher as a friend or contact on any social media. He also denied he had ever been at the teacher's house or that they had spent another night together in her car, as had been claimed. Cross-examined by Eoghan O'Sullivan BL, for the director, the witness said he had only ever had a normal 'teacher-student relationship' with the woman, who taught him in fifth and sixth year. He said he had no reason to tell untruths to protect her as 'I don't really know her outside of what happened that night, and school.' He was asked about Facebook messages alleged to have been between the woman's ex- partner and him in early September 2018. The ex was alleged to have tried to phone him after finding the teenager's messages to the teacher. 'Who the f**k are you and why are you texting my girlfriend?', the ex had said, explaining: 'Your teacher, you little muppet. I seen the messages.' The teenager allegedly replied: 'Just talking to her about absolute bollocks because I get on with her. Nothing more than that, if that's what you're thinking. (She) is my teacher, pal, there's hardly anything going on with her.' These messages were 'completely inconsistent' with his assertion that he had no other contact with her, Mr O'Sullivan said. The witness said he could not say for sure if it was him in the messages as he did not remember it, and did not recognise the Facebook profile. Mr O'Sullivan put it to him that it would have been a 'memorable event' if he had a sexual encounter with someone who was recently his teacher and her irate partner contacted him to 'get to the bottom of' what was going on. Mr O'Sullivan also said it would have been 'unusual' if he and the teacher did not kiss or touch before they got to the hotel, if there was no form of relationship already. The witness replied he just 'wouldn't be like that in general' in public. He did not 'tell his mates' about the sexual encounter, saying 'it wasn't really that big a thing for me, to be brutally honest.' The inquiry was told earlier that the teacher is now working at a different Dublin school. Chairperson Fergal McCarthy adjourned the hearing which will continue on a later date. When it concludes, a disciplinary panel will assess the evidence and if the allegations are found to be proven, potential sanctions range from "advice" on future conduct to removal of a teacher from the register.
