Teacher who told two staff he’d love to ‘watch’ them perform sexual act banned from classroom

An assistant headteacher who told two colleagues he would “love to watch” them perform a sex act has been banned from the classroom.

Russell Gregory, 46, sent a number of sexually motivated WhatsApp messages to three junior colleagues in July 2023 in a “flagrant disregard for his role and responsibilities as a senior leader,” a Teaching Regulation Agency (TRA) panel has determined.

In one message to two colleagues, he made a reference to “scissors...ing” before saying he would “love to watch”. Mr Gregory told the hearing he did not know what the term referred to, but the panel decided this was “not plausible” and judged his messages were “sexually motivated”.

In a separate message, he told one staff member: “I do love you when you’re angry but bet you f*** even more amazingly when you are angry,” which he admitted was of a sexual nature. He also made comments to a third staff member about her appearance and dreaming about her, leading to another staff member warning him to stop, according to the report.

The messages were sent when he was working as an assistant headteacher of ethos and outcomes at Clevedon School in Clevedon, the panel was told. Mr Gregory was reported to the school after a male member of staff raised concerns over the messages.

The misconduct panel found he had “failed to maintain appropriate professional boundaries” with three staff members by sending the messages, which they said “fell significantly short” of the standards expected in teaching.

They also noted there was an “evident power dynamic” between him and the staff he was messaging, and that the number of texts “demonstrated a pattern of behaviour”.

“The panel determined that Mr Gregory’s conduct would have a negative impact on his status as a teacher and the perception of the teaching profession as a whole,” the report said. “Mr Gregory was a senior leader at the school, and the assistant head for ethos and outcomes, and was therefore expected to be a positive role model, and display a high standard of behaviour towards pupils but also to staff.

“Owing to the disparity between the respective levels of seniority of the staff participating in the WhatsApp group, there was an evident power dynamic. The volume of the inappropriate and unprofessional messages exchanged (including those of a sexual nature), demonstrated a pattern of behaviour. This indicated that Mr Gregory’s conduct was habitual.

“Accordingly, the panel was satisfied that Mr Gregory’s conduct brought the profession into disrepute.”

He was found guilty of unacceptable professional conduct and banned from teaching indefinitely. He can apply for the order to be removed in three years.