A Chatham & Clarendon Grammar School teacher has been cautioned by police after being caught on school CCTV kissing a pupil.
The Media Studies and English department teacher admitted breaching his duty of trust by inappropriately kissing a sixth form student, and was given a police caution, the Mail Online reports
Headteacher Debra Liddicoat informed students in an email just before half-term that the teacher – named as Lee Fountain in the Mail – would not be at the school anymore.
A Kent Police statement says: “Kent Police received a report on Thursday 13 October 2022 alleging inappropriate behaviour between a teacher and a student at a school in east Kent.
“Officers made enquiries. The man was interviewed under caution. On Thursday 20 October a man was given a caution and the investigation was closed.”
Debra Liddicoat, Headteacher of Chatham and Clarendon Grammar School, added: “Following an investigation by Kent Police, a teacher at Chatham and Clarendon Grammar School was cautioned. The investigation has now closed. The member of staff concerned was immediately suspended and has now left the school.
“The safety and wellbeing of all of our students is, at all times, our priority and we take matters of this nature extremely seriously.
“We will now carry out an HR investigation while continuing to engage with the Local Authority Designated Officer (LADO) in order to address concerns around this incident.
“The LADO will provide professional oversight for the school as necessary and ensure that all practice and procedures are followed at this time.”
How long did it take the head to report to police. If rumours were around the school for two weeks!! Looking after her own and not the children. Is the child/children affected having support ?
Not sure why the police were called or why he was interviewed & given a caution-sixth formers which is what the Mail said she is are 16-18 & thus meet the legal age.
As with anyone in a position of trust, it illegal to engage in sexual activity with anyone under the age of 18.
I agree 16-18 totally legal bar teacher student ,and to lose job ,if I was boy 15 kissing female teacher it would be yipee ,if I was girl 15 kissing teacher totally different scenario but exactly the same ,if a woman sees baby in pram and says wow gorgeous baby I’m waiting for you to grow up if man says exactly same thing instant paedophile
Steve, I was married to a teacher at a grammar school for 20 years, and this came up on occasion, and basically it means the school acts in “loco Parentis”, or “in place of a parent”. It gives schools discretion to act in the best interest of their students. So, would you agree for your daughter to have an affair with an adult teacher, without your knowledge even if she was 18? Thats why he was sacked, because he may have been taking advantage of her and grooming her.
It is illegal for any teacher to have any relationship with a pupil at same school even when they are over the 16 year age limit.All teachers would be aware of this. Because under law it is illegal that is why police were called.
Because its an abuse of power
It seems as you had information Two weeks earlier, why did you not report it the police, if the school failed to do so.
Why was my comment not posted
Because it was in the moderation queue
Thank you 🙂
A relative of mine, a teacher, had a relationship with the head girl.
They’ve been happily married for 40 years.
“The Media Studies and English department teacher admitted breaching his duty of trust by inappropriately kissing the teenager and was given a police caution, the Mail Online reports”
Could someone please explain to me why they needed to use the word “inappropriately” before the word “kissing”? I’m going out on a limb here, but I’m pretty certain there is no way for a teacher to ‘appropriately’ kiss a pupil.
A relative of mine, a teacher, had a relationship with the head girl.
They’ve been happily married for 40 years.
What’s your point, Phyllis? There is no appropriate way to kiss a pupil. Ever.
Your relative abused a position of power, whichever way you look at it. No teacher should be entering into a relationship with a pupil. There is a duty of care and a trust which has been totally breached. Had that been my daughter, your relative would have left the school in a wooden suit. That they’ve been happily married for 40 years is quite beside the point.
Why? If it is was a consensual kiss between two adults?
For the reasons clearly stated above, a teacher is in a position of power, and has a duty of care to those students. If a student is 16 or 17 they are of legal age, but morally, this is repugnant. They are still children, whichever way you look at it. Would you be happy with your daughter or son kissing their adult teacher?
As long as they were 16 or older & they are not being forced to do anything then yes.
Nothing wrong with a 16-18 yr old student kissing a teacher above legal age IF 15 and younger totally wrong and illegal
This is subject that relationship between teacher/students has boundaries, it should never happen ever!! However if that had happened between a female teacher and male student will still have the same impact?
President Macron fell for his teacher now his wife when he was 15 years old, maybe they do things different in France. In Britain this is definitely a NO NO.
At 16, they are legally able to consent, but still a child in most sane people’s eyes. A teacher kissing or entering into any kind of relationship with a child is morally wrong and, frankly, revolting. Of all the weird things I’ve seen on this site, I never thought I’d have to explain this to people. Turns out, there are some very strange people on here, with some very bizarre morals.
Jim
I agree it is wrong and totally indefensible for a teacher to do this as it is a breach of trust. From a legal point of view anyone in England under the age of 18 is considered a child and not an adult. He was lucky to walk away with only a police caution.
So they should make kissing illegal until you’re 18 then this is purely teacher student argument ,imagine a 23 yr old man and 16 yr old girl or vice versa it’s only WRONG because student teacher UNLESS student is under 16
A 23 year old kissing a 16 year old IS wrong. It is morally wrong. The growing up done between those ages is huge. What on earth would a 23 year old want with a 16 year old with no life experience who is, in reality, still a child. I am astonished that anyone would try and defend this. There are some revolting individuals around.
Bill Wyman & Jimmy Page didn’t even wait until they were sixteen. Page who is now with somebody that looks like his grand daughter was given an OBE-says a lot about the double standard of being famous & how corrupt the establishment is.
Maybe by your morals Jim, but not everybody sees things the same & the laws listed below make it clear you are no longer considered a child.
At 16
You can work full time if you have left school, have a National Insurance number and the job has accredited training.
You can give consent and have sex.
You can be prosecuted for having sex with someone who is under 16.
You can apply for your own passport with a parent’s consent.
You can change your name.
You can open a current account and get a debit card.
You can be prosecuted for neglecting a child in your care.
There are many 16 year olds that are more mentally mature than 23, 33, 43 or even older people-as we have seen from 50-60 year olds who should know better getting into drunken fights with each other in public etc.
What if teacher is 18 yrs old it cannot be that disgusting surely or 21 and 18 having a relationship
When did you last see an 18 year old teacher?
The amount of defending of this you’re doing is actually troubling. Something you want to tell us?
Lee fountain did nothing wrong. Free up Lee fountain
Child being the operative word Jim. A 16 year old is not a child. Not sure about now as I think they have to stay at school until 18.
But until then at 16 if you didn’t go on to further education you were considered an adult that had to look for work/get a job & we free to take on the entire local Rugby or local cheer leading team if you so desired. Many page 3 girls started at 16 years old.
Steve, there is a world of difference between legal and moral. You are either quite happy with clearly immoral behaviour from teachers in a school setting, or wilfully ignorant. Either way, it doesn’t look good for you. Neither does stating that page 3 girls started at 16, so that must make it OK. There’s a reason page 3 ceased to exist and a reason we don’t think of the casual sexualisation of children as “a bit of harmless fun” anymore. The 70s are dead, though you clearly haven’t lost the mentality. Yikes.
My son used to go to this school. It is very much run in “the old boys club” spirit. Things are kept hushed up and the schools “reputation” put before all else. They previously almost lost their funding for ignoring a request to amend their complaints procedure. Did you know they are actually an “Academy”? They keep that quiet too due to negative connotations.
Hew Williams
Something doesnt seem right here, the fact that the teacher only left and was not sacked, why is that. This must be a sackable offence yet the school didnt sack him. Does he leave with a glowing reference and pension ?
If I had a daughter at this school I would be asking serious questions as to the schools code of conduct.
Only caution by the police as well for a kissing a minor, in the school grounds, were children should feel safe.
It seems the school is more concerned with its reputation than to do the right thing.
Also alot of people seem to be out of touch with the law and guidance regarding teacher and pupils interact.
Alot of people may see it as only a minor event, but it isnt.
‘Left the school’ ?
So he wasnt sacked, just left.
The question that worries me is why didnt the school sack him, what have you got to do at this school to be sacked ?.
I am guessing he won’t get another job working with children due to the checks.
The teacher is in loco parentis and has totally breached his duty of care.
Could the reason he left the school & not sacked be because he left first? Also sometimes when you have to go you are given the opportunity to leave or be sacked. Getting the sack doesnt look good when you are looking for a job.
this man was my english teacher from 2013-2016. and i had to hard my english the hard way by studying and hard work lol
So the man has been named and shamed presumably by the school he has lost his job and been given a caution by the police. So if the man kills kills himself due to the stress this matter has caused him presumably those who sit on the on-line kangaroo court will be happy. This is the dangerous situation when only part of the story is given out. In the real world females of today can be very focused on what they want.
The teacher was caught kissing a pupil on school CCTV. That is the beginning, middle and end of the story. There is no situation in which that is acceptable. Of course he should have lost his job, although, he certainly shouldn’t have been given the opportunity to walk before being pushed.
As for being happy if the man kills himself… Don’t be a complete throbber. Decent people would never be happy about this, anymore than decent people are happy about a teacher kissing a girl.
I’ve said it already on here, but it staggers me how many people are quite happy to defend this revolting, predatory behaviour. Welcome to Thanet!
Well said MargateJim, well said.
Bah humbug! What a load of PC rubbish! The age of consent in Spain (before it joined the bankster’s Soviet Socialist Republic of the EU) is, or was then, age 12, when the girl could marry without parental consent. So an English rose here, who also can marry without parental consent at age 16, knows full well what she’s doing. So why the fuss?