A humanities teacher who was arrested after sending sexual messages to a 13-year-old girl has been banned from teaching indefinitely. Liam Walker, 31, taught at Sir William Stanier School in Crewe, Cheshire, from 2023 to 2024. He used Snapchat and another online chatroom under usernames including 'HungTeacherMeet' and 'Fit Teacher' to communicate with the child.
Details of the case
Walker corresponded with the child for a week, asking 'intrusive questions about her sexual history and making other sexualised remarks', according to allegations upheld by a Teaching Regulation Agency panel. The girl, identified as Child A, informed Walker during their first online interaction on 7 August that she was 13. Despite this, Walker continued the correspondence until 15 August.
Messages included comments such as: 'you never know what creeps are out there trying to get into your pants', 'are you a virgin?', 'you’re defo gonna get someone in trouble haha hope you don’t send nudes', 'are you looking for sex?', and 'I’m always a little worried to talk dirty to a teen as it’s illegal haha'.
Arrest and dismissal
On 4 September 2024, Walker was arrested for engaging in sexual communications with a child. Five days later, he was dismissed from his role with immediate effect. The panel noted that his behaviour 'took place in the summer holidays outside of the education setting', but he had 'failed in his duty of care to children by exposing Child A to the risk of being groomed' and failed to promote her safety and welfare.
The panel stated that Walker 'appeared to be testing the boundaries with Child A' and that 'this conduct was exacerbated by his use of the usernames ‘HungTeacherMeet’ and ‘FitTeacher’ which were both capable of having sexual connotations'.
Panel's findings
The panel determined that his actions amounted to a 'serious departure from the personal and professional conduct elements of the Teachers’ Standards', as well as 'sexual misconduct … involving actions that were sexually motivated or of a sexual nature and/or that use or exploit the trust, knowledge or influence derived from the individual’s professional position'.
The panel cited public interest considerations, the protracted nature of the communication with Child A, and the intrusive and explicit nature of the conversation as 'significant factors' in recommending a prohibition order with immediate effect.
Decision
Stuart Blomfield, acting on behalf of the Secretary of State for Education, said: 'The findings of misconduct are serious' and noted that 'the panel has found all of the allegations proven and found that those proven facts amount to unacceptable professional conduct and conduct that may bring the profession into disrepute'. He added: 'In my view, it is necessary to impose a prohibition order in order to maintain public confidence in the profession.'
