Former Worksop teacher banned after having sexual relationship with pupil

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A former teacher at a Worksop school has been banned from the profession after being found guilty of having a sexual relationship with a pupil.

Christopher Suter, aged 58, was a teacher at the old Valley Comprehensive School on Valley Road when the incidents happened.

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A hearing at the Teaching Regulation Agency (TRA) – which Suter did not attend – heard that he had been employed as a history teacher at the school between 1992 to 2010 and it was alleged that he began a relationship with a pupil – known only as Pupil A – in or around 2004, when Pupil A was at the school.

At this time, Mr Suter was aged around 38 and the relationship continued throughout Pupil A’s time at the school’s sixth form and into her early adult life. Incidents included asking the girl to take her bra off and saying to her another time, ‘it’s not as it I’m going to lay you out on the table and screw you’ or words to that effect.

Suter was banned for having sexual relations with a pupil at the old Valley Comprehensive School in Worksop. Photo: SubmittedSuter was banned for having sexual relations with a pupil at the old Valley Comprehensive School in Worksop. Photo: Submitted
Suter was banned for having sexual relations with a pupil at the old Valley Comprehensive School in Worksop. Photo: Submitted

Suter also told the girl to delete emails between the two of them ‘in case MI5 are looking in’, while on another occasion, he expressed his frustration to her that he felt he was ‘being watched’.

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The panel heard that he engaged in sexual conduct and sexual intercourse with Pupil A on more than one occasion.

Pupil A told the panel she believed at the time that she was in a relationship with the teacher.

She reported the relationship to the police in 2018.

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Suter denied there was any sexual contact with the pupil before she left the school, but acknowledged there had been a relationship after Pupil A left the school

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In or around, 2010, the panel heard he asked Pupil A if she would sign a document stating that the relationship between him and her did not happen and/or words to that effect.

Suter was later suspended from the school in 2012 over his conduct with another pupil.

The panel found that Suter’s actions had breached the Teachers Standards, which amounted to misconduct that had brought the profession into disrepute.

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It also noted that Suter ‘did not provide any evidence of remorse’ and, in particular, that he had ‘not recognised the impact of his actions on Pupil A’, which the panel found to be ‘significant and long-lasting’.

In its statement, the panel said: “The panel was of the view that prohibition was both proportionate and appropriate.

"The panel decided that the public interest considerations outweighed the interests of Mr Suter.

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"The fact that Mr Suter had developed and engaged in a sexual relationship with Pupil A and sought to keep that secret was a significant factor in forming that opinion.

"The panel also considered that this was not a one-off incident, and there was evidence of a pattern of conduct. Accordingly, the panel made a recommendation to the Secretary of State that a prohibition order should be imposed with immediate effect.”

The pane ruled that Suter was ‘prohibited from teaching indefinitely and cannot teach in any school, sixth form college, relevant youth accommodation or children’s home in England’.

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