A headteacher has been struck off after she failed to act on concerns over a staff member who was later jailed for abusing pupils.
Angela Paterson ignored 'serious allegations' over Carol Ann White, 40, and her relationship with a schoolboy. Paterson had been in charge of a North Lanarkshire primary school when White targeted the youngster.
White was later arrested following a huge police investigation which revealed she had abused two boys at two different schools. She was convicted of two charges of engaging in sexual activity with the youngsters and possessing indecent photos of a child at Airdrie Sheriff Court between August 2018 and May 2020.
White, of Uddingston, Lanarkshire, was jailed for three years and placed on the sex offenders' register indefinitely. Paterson has admitted failing in her duties as headteacher and child protection coordinator by not acting on claims about White.
At the General Teaching Council for Scotland (GTCS) she admitted a string of errors in her handling of allegations between 2015 and 2019. A disciplinary panel ruled they had no option but to strike her off after concluding she was unfit to teach.
In a letter to the GTCS, Paterson said: "My action or lack of action regarding this situation has caused me to reflect critically on my role and I am anxious to resolve this as best I can and I am willing to work with NLC to ensure that this never happens again. I feel that it is important that I now review my own actions in light of this to ensure I have clarity in areas that were lacking.
"I can clearly see that I could have and should have been more proactive in addressing the concerns shared by staff and had I read the notes available to me, and not filed them on receipt for future reference if required, I would have certainly taken a different course of action."
Paterson admitted to the GTCS she failed to read written concerns about White from colleagues which included use of the word 'grooming' and also provided White with an 'excellent' reference despite her new school being attended by 'vulnerable' youngsters. She also let White return to the school after she had changed job and failed to notify the parents of the boy whose relationship with White had raised concern.
During a seven-day trial last year, it emerged White had kissed the 11-year-old boy at the school in a store cupboard before she changed jobs. The court heard how her web of deceit finally unravelled during the first Covid-19 lockdown in 2020.
A total of 1,185 messages were exchanged between her and a 12-year-old boy in just three weeks. White asked him to touch himself intimately on FaceTime, sent revealing photos of herself and sent one photo captioned 'C**kblock of the year goes to Covid-19'.
In a written ruling, the GTCS said: "The panel considered that the teacher's conduct fell significantly short of the standards expected of a registered teacher and that her conduct was incompatible with her remaining of the register. For these reasons, the panel concluded that the teacher is currently unfit to teach.
"It could only direct that the teacher be removed from the register." Paterson will be unable to reapply to work as a teacher for two years.
A North Lanarkshire spokesperson said: "This individual is no longer an employee of North Lanarkshire Council."
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