Teacher banned after messaging '15-year-old girl'
- Published
The misconduct panel said John Lane had shown no remorse for his offending
A teacher who sent sexual messages to someone he thought was a 15-year-old girl has been banned from the profession.
John Lane, who worked for Education Plus North East, was confronted by a group of so-called paedophile hunters.
After being arrested, he pleaded guilty to attempting to engage in sexual communication with a child and was given a suspended prison sentence.
A misconduct panel has now ruled he cannot return to teaching in England.
Lane was approached at his home in June 2020 by a group known as the Child Online Safety Team and the encounter was posted on Facebook.
After alerting Durham Police, Education Plus North East sacked Lane, who had worked for the organisation on Teesside since September 2018.
He appeared at County Durham and Darlington Magistrates' Court within days and admitted the offence.
'A risk to children'
As well as the six-month suspended prison term, he was ordered to sign the Sex Offenders Register for seven years and made subject to a Sexual Harm Prevention Order for the same period of time.
In its ruling following a panel meeting last month, the Teaching Regulation Agency said while it was unclear whether Lane tried to communicate with a youngster during the course of his teaching duties he "posed a risk to children of school age".
Although they said it appeared to be an isolated incident, they added the sentence "was indicative of the seriousness of the offences committed".
The panel noted the incident occurred on social media and found Lane "should have been acutely aware of the need to observe the protocols for safe online behaviour".
It also said he had "not offered any explanation or reassurance" that there would not be a repeat of the offence and had expressed no remorse.
The ruling means Lane is prohibited from teaching indefinitely in any school, sixth form college, youth accommodation or children's home in England.
He has the right to appeal within 28 days.
Follow BBC North East & Cumbria on Twitter, external, Facebook, external and Instagram, external. Send your story ideas to northeastandcumbria@bbc.co.uk, external.