Teacher Struck Off After Massaging Boy In His Bedroom

Teacher Struck Off After Massaging Boy In His Bedroom

A teacher has been banned from the profession after massaging a teenage boy in his bedroom.

Supply teacher Richard Keen, 25, was about to start a full-time job at Gladstone Primary, in Longton, Stoke-on-Trent, when the teenager made his allegations in June, 2011. He was suspended from his role and interviewed by police.

At a disciplinary hearing, the National College for Teaching and Leadership was told that Mr Keen began giving the boy sports massages at his home in 2010, having initially gone round there to play computer games.

He claimed the boy had asked him to look at a leg injury he was suffering from.

The boy told his dad after Keen gave him 'several further massages' over a 12-month period.

The head teacher who had offered Keen a full time job at her school said she conducted an internal inquiry with Stoke-on-Trent city council after she became aware of the allegations.

She said Mr Keen was 'incredulous' over the accusations put to him.

Keen was cleared of three charges of sexual activity with a child following a trial at Stafford Crown Court, and the case was referred to the NCTL for a disciplinary investigation.

The panel subsequently ruled that Keen failed to maintain appropriate boundaries, stating:

"There may be circumstances when a teacher can give a massage to a child, but not in the confines of a child's bedroom when no other adult is present and when there is no obvious reason for the massage. The fact that the child was a friend does not justify the privacy of the arrangement."

They added that Keen demonstrated a 'deep-seated attitude which could lead to harmful behaviour'.

The Sentinel reports that Keen must now wait three years before applying to have the teaching ban lifted.

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