Teacher banned from the classroom for lying about sexual relationship with pupil
A teacher has been banned from the profession after he admitted having a sexual relationship with one of his pupils in the early 2000s and lying about it to a recent employer in Shropshire.
Lee Butler, 49, was found “guilty of unacceptable professional conduct and/or conduct that may bring the profession into disrepute” by a Teaching Regulation Agency (TRA) panel.
He admitted he engaged in a sexual relationship with a pupil at the high school and sixth form he was working in Worcestershire, around 2003.
He also admitted and was found guilty of lying about the relationship to another school he was working at in 2020, in Shropshire, stating that it only started after the student left the school.
Mr Butler conceded he “displayed poor judgment” and “was in fear and panicked” when asked about the relationship in 2020 which caused him to lie, the panel said.
According to the former pupil, her relationship with Mr Butler began in April or May 2003 when she drove him home after “social drinks”.
The pair met in September 2001 when he became her media studies teacher at AS level.
The panel’s report said the relationship took place outside of school, mostly at the teacher’s home, and ended about a year later “at the direction” of the pupil.
A third party brought the relationship to the attention of the police in 2020, prompting an inquiry into the teacher.
Mr Butler subsequently informed his then employer about the investigation and lied about the relationship having started after the pupil had left the school, the panel’s report said.
He was found to have been dishonest when lying about the start of the relationship, which he admitted.
While “there did not appear to be an express prohibition against a teacher having a sexual relationship with a pupil” in 2003, the panel found “this does not mean that it was acceptable in any shape or form, more that it had not been identified as a priority issue for guidance at that time”.
The panel found Mr Butler’s actions “displayed moral culpability” and “amounted to misconduct of a serious nature which fell significantly short of the standards expected of the teaching profession”.
While the panel acknowledged his “previously unblemished character” and “clear commitment to working as a teacher and supporting children”, it found it was not sufficient to mitigate the circumstances, adding “prohibition was both proportionate and appropriate”.
Mr Butler was banned from teaching indefinitely on February 2, and cannot teach in any school, sixth form college, relevant youth accommodation or children’s home in England, and is entitled to apply for restoration of his eligibility to teach.
