A former teacher at Christ the King College, who admitted six charges of making 8,506 indecent images and 555 videos of children in 2020, has been banned from teaching for life.
Simon Baker has 28 days to appeal the decision, which was made on behalf of the Secretary of State following a recommendation from a professional conduct panel meeting held earlier this month.
Banned with immediate effect
Having considered all of the evidence before them, the panel – which was made up of a teacher panelist and two lay panelists – made their recommendation to the Secretary of State, namely that a prohibition order should be imposed with immediate effect.
The prohibition order, on behalf of the Secretary of State, reads:
Mr Simon Baker is prohibited from teaching indefinitely and cannot teach in any school, sixth form college, relevant youth accommodation or children’s home in England. Furthermore, in view of the seriousness of the allegations found proved against him, I have decided that Mr Simon Baker shall not be entitled to apply for restoration of his eligibility to teach
Images caused huge distress to the vulnerable children
The report explains that the panel considered remarks made by the sentencing judge that the types of material Mr Baker had downloaded had “caused huge distress to the participants, underage children”.
The panel also considered Mr Baker’s behaviour in committing the offences could affect public confidence in the teaching profession, given the influence that teachers may have on pupils, parents and others in the community.
Public interest outweighs interests of Mr Baker
The panel’s view was that there had been deliberate and repeated actions over a period of nine years and that the public interest considerations outweighed the interests of Mr Baker.
They concluded that the prohibition would be both proportionate and appropriate and the particularly extreme nature and scope of the criminal offences had been a significant factor in forming that opinion.
Mr Baker has a right of appeal to the Queen’s Bench Division of the High Court within 28 days from the date he is given notice of the order (dated 21st March 2022).
Court judgement
News OnTheWight reported in February 2020 about Mr Baker’s two year suspended jail sentence, after admitting six charges of making 8,506 indecent images and 555 videos of children.
It was reported in court that over 1,800 of the images found were the most serious, category A, and over 140 showed acts of bestiality (sexual activity with an animal).
Baker was given a two-year suspended sentence, was placed on the Sex Offenders’ register for ten years, the subject of an 18-year Sexual Harm Prevention Order, and ordered to complete 35 days of rehabilitation activities and 250 hours of unpaid work.
Read the full report
You can read the full report below, embedded for your convenience.
Image: Teunie van Hernen under CC BY 2.0
