Classroom ban over child sex images

Gordon was employed at Dovecot Primary School between September 2023 and February 2024

A teaching assistant who was convicted of possessing more than 260 indecent images of children has been barred from ever setting foot in a classroom again.

Police uncovered a Dropbox account associated to Reece Gordon in 2023 while he was working at Dovecot Primary School.

An IP address linked to him found he had accessed hundreds of indecent images of children. He was convicted at Liverpool Crown Court in October last year.

Gordon was sentenced to 10 months in prison suspended for two years and made subject of a sexual harm prevention order for 10 years.

A teacher regulation agency (TRA) hearing held in private last month has now ordered that he never be allowed to return to the classroom again.

A report into the hearing set out how Gordon was employed at Dovecot Primary School as a teaching assistant between September 2023 and February 2024.

He also carried out teaching work during this time, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

Police received information before Gordon started at the school that the Dropbox account associated with his email address had accessed 268 category A – the most severe – images online.

'No remorse'

He appeared at Liverpool Crown Court in October 2024 and was sentenced a month later, including a rehabilitation activity requirement of 60 days and an unpaid work requirement of 100 hours.

The TRA panel remarked how Gordon's actions were relevant to teaching, working with children and working in an education setting, and constituted serious and safeguarding risks for any children.

In the assessment, the panel said there had been no proof Gordon demonstrated "exceptionally high standards in his personal and professional conduct or had contributed significantly to the education sector".

Documents described Gordon's offending as "a large string of instances over a prolonged period of time".

The panel also found no evidence of remorse by the former teaching assistant.

Officials said there was "every risk" the offences could be repeated "in circumstances where Gordon was permitted to continue to work as a teacher."

As a result, Gordon is now prohibited from teaching indefinitely and cannot teach in any school, sixth form college, relevant youth accommodation or children's home in England.

He will not be permitted to appeal.