An assistant head of year has been banned from teaching indefinitely after filming a colleague through the window of a women’s shower room.
Christopher Arnold, 40, was caught after the victim noticed a smartphone pressed against the window at Hampton School in southwest London in March 2022.
He was formally dismissed following a disciplinary hearing, and later pleaded guilty and was convicted of observing a person doing a private act for the purpose of sexual gratification at Wimbledon Magistrates Court.
As a result, he was ordered to carry out 200 hours of unpaid work and register with the sex offenders’ register for five years.
A hearing before the Teaching Regulation Agency heard that Arnold had been employed at the £22,000-per-year private school since 2012 as a physics and computer science teacher.
He was previously warned by the school in December 2015 after he was suspected of photographing or recording a colleague, but no further action was taken.
Over the course of the following 10 years, he gained several promotions, which also saw him take up a role as mental health and wellbeing lead.
However on 23 March, he was caught trying to use his mobile phone to take photographs of a female colleague showering.
Despite claiming to have acted on impulse, it was noted that he had taken “deliberate steps” to go through the double doors and up the stairs to reach the women’s changing rooms.
During his evidence, he told the panel he had had not been “thinking clearly” and believed it would “provide a moment of respite from feelings of panic and despair”.
He also had shown remorse for his actions which he described as being “out of character and contrary to my attitudes and values”.
In a statement to the panel, he wrote: “My life has changed beyond recognition…and I am wholeheartedly committed to taking whatever measures necessary to make my future more positive, happy and fulfilling.”
A letter from probation also noted that he had engaged proactively with his sentence, and that he “posed a low risk to children”.
The panel concluded that his behaviour had fallen “significantly short of the standards expected”, and that he should be prohibited from teaching indefinitely.
This means he cannot teach in any school, sixth form college, youth accommodation or children’s home in England, but can apply for the prohibition order to be set aside after two years.
