School deputy head who watched child rape videos banned from teaching

2023-03-22

Catholic primary school deputy head who secretly watched child rape videos on the dark web while his wife and own child slept is banned from teaching for life

Richard Swinnerton, 31, worked at St Clare’s primary school in Middlesbrough
A Teaching Regulation Agency panel said his conviction was extremely serious
READ MORE: Mother-of-two spared jail after admitting to sharing indecent images of children

A Catholic deputy school headteacher who watched child rape videos has been banned from teaching for life.

Richard Swinnerton resigned from his post at St Clare’s primary school in Middlesbrough, North Yorkshire after he was caught watching the sick clips on the dark web while his wife and own child slept upstairs.

When officers from the National Crime Agency raided his home and arrested him during the pandemic, the paedophile pointed them to his laptop and said: ‘It’s me, I have been looking at the indecent images.’ He was later convicted and handed a suspended jail sentence.

A disciplinary panel has now banned Swinnerton from teaching in England indefinitely.

Richard Swinnerton resigned from his post at St Clare’s primary school in Middlesbrough, North Yorkshire after he was caught watching the sick clips on the dark web

Officers from the National Crime Agency raided Swinnerton home and arrested him

Swinnerton admitted in court to possessing 95 indecent images of children – with 87 of them being in the most sadistic and serious category A.

He had viewed the videos using a router, which gave him access to the dark web, a court heard

The paedophile said he had been accessing indecent images for the past 12 months when his wife and child were upstairs in bed. Swinnerton also admitted that he had been looking at the images over the past year, and told police in an interview that he was sexually attracted to children.

At Teesside Crown Court in 2020, he was given a 10-month prison sentence, suspended for two years, and was given a 10-year long Sexual Harm Prevention order.

Prosecutor Shaun Dryden previously told Teesside Crown Court: ‘He actively searched images of children and confirmed the purpose of the search was for his own sexual gratification. He would view the images on a weekly basis for about half an hour.’

Swinnerton was employed as deputy head at St Clare’s Catholic Primary School in Middlesbrough, North Yorkshire

Judge Deborah Sherwin said there was no evidence Swinnerton had ‘crossed the boundary’ into harming any children himself.

Now, a Teaching Regulation Agency disciplinary panel has banned him from teaching for life.

This comes following his resignation from his post after his arrest in May 2020.

The panel added that his behaviour and conviction were extremely serious given the nature of the offences.

A St Clare’s school spokesperson said: ‘This has been an upsetting matter for parents, carers, staff and the wider community at St Clare’s. We are grateful for the support we have received from them and we continue to assure them that the wellbeing and safety of children of St Clare’s remains our priority at all times.

‘It is also important to reiterate that this former employee’s offences were not in connection with his employment at the school.’

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