An assistant head at a South Warwickshire school has been banned from teaching for life after being placed on the sex offenders register.

William Gee, 32, accepted a caution from West Mercia Police in December 2023 after it was discovered he had a video on his phone of another man masturbating in front of a teenage boy.

Gee - who was sacked from St Benedict's Catholic High School in Alcester after the caution - had the footage on his phone for over a year before being arrested.

A professional conduct panel heard Gee had been sent the video on WhatsApp in October 2022 by a man he wished to be in a relationship with. He did not ask for the video to be sent.

The assistant head and head of music did not report the incident to the police, nor did he delete it from his phone.

Having admitted to the facts of the incident before the panel, he was found "guilty of unacceptable professional conduct and/or conduct that may bring the profession into disrepute".

Sex Offenders Register

The panel, which met in May, heard Gee was sent the video by 'individual A' on 28 October 2022.

The video was of the person masturbating in the presence of a 15-year-old and Gee "accessed and viewed this video".

A report published following the panel did not say how the police became aware of the incident, but Gee was arrested in October 2023 on suspicion of having accessed and/or stored indecent images of children. 

This was followed by a caution in December 2023, which he accepted. Gee was placed on the sex offenders register for two years.

"Mr Gee's devices had been analysed and there was no evidence of Mr Gee searching for any other indecent material," the report said.

It added: "The panel noted that Mr Gee had accepted a police caution in respect of this matter on 14 December 2023. 

"This established that Mr Gee had made a clear admission of guilt in respect of that offence. 

"While the panel accepted that this was not conclusive of the relevant facts in the same way as a conviction, the panel attached significant weight to this evidence."

'By far, my biggest regret'

Gee did not attend the panel in May, and did not send a representative.

However he did submit a written statement in which he "apologise[d] wholeheartedly".

"[It is] by far, the biggest regret of my life to date," he said. 

"I regret being stupid enough to not treat this with the severity it deserves. 

"I regret not speaking up on behalf of people who were unable to speak up for themselves."

Gee was sacked from St Benedicts in December 2023 and from another job at an unnamed cathedral on Friday 9 February 2024.

Having also said he was nominated for an 'Unsung Hero' award by a parent as part of the Pearson National Teaching Awards in 2022, the disgraced former teacher said he would like to return to the profession "to make a difference in the lives of young people".

Another statement made on his behalf continued: "With regards to the allegation around sexual motivation, we wish to make it clear that Mr Gee experienced no sexual gratification from the image. 

"He does not have feelings of a sexual nature towards children. 

"He had no deliberate intention, at any point, to access indecent material. 

"His intentions in interacting with the individual who sent the image were to gain that person's affection; 'Individual A', an adult. 

"Whilst we acknowledge that this was misguided, it was a direct result of the self-esteem issues suffered by Mr Gee at the time; issues he has since made considerable steps to address." 

Banned for life

Summarising the events of the hearing, the panel concluded that while Gee did not ask for the video and did not receive any sexual gratification from it, he should have known better and should have reported the incident.

They recommended he be immediately banned from teaching and not be given the chance to review the ban in the future.

"The panel was satisfied that the conduct of Mr Gee amounted to misconduct of a serious nature which fell significantly short of the standards expected of the profession," the report said.

It added: "Mr Gee had held a senior role in the school, which had carried with it significant safeguarding responsibilities. 

"Mr Gee would have received safeguarding training and, given his senior role, was likely to have delivered such training. 

"Those responsibilities extended beyond the school setting and required Mr Gee to have reported the video to police as soon as he received it from Individual A.

"Instead, he had retained it on his device for almost a year until his arrest. 

"This raised serious concerns about Mr Gee's understanding and performance of his safeguarding obligations."

The secretary of state's office upheld the panel's assessment saying "there is some risk of the repetition of this behaviour and this puts at risk the future wellbeing of pupils".

Gee has the right to appeal the decision.

St Benedict's School was approached for comment.