A PE teacher who asked a pupil if they were wearing a ‘lucky thong’ and sent topless pictures to another has been banned from teaching indefinitely.
Joshua Roper, who was the head of PE at Sheringham Community Primary School in Norfolk, was accused of sending inappropriate messages, touching a child’s bottom and referring to one child as “babe”.
A panel found the 30-year-old guilty of failing to maintain appropriate professional boundaries.
In July 2022, one child raised concerns about Roper to a manager at a football club after he sent inappropriate messages. Two more children also came forward with similar concerns which were reported to the Football Association on 25 August 2022.
One alleged that Roper had engaged in conversations with her about her outfits and appearance and put “kisses” at the end of his messages. She also said he had touched her bottom on several occasions while they were setting up for training sessions.
Roper admitted he commented on her appearance but said this was “banter” or a “joke”.
The child explained that while she was walking her dogs Roper messaged her to tell her that she looked good in short shorts, and that he had looked at her bottom. She stated that there was another time where Roper asked her if she was wearing a bikini to the beach.
It was raised that Roper also called her “babe”, which he suggested was a “genuine slip of the tongue”.
He explained that another person was also training and he simply asked them to “please pick up the cones babe”, but that he did not realise the child was behind him. He said at the time they both found it funny, and also embarrassing. But the panel found this use of language inappropriate.
Another child reported Roper had invited three of the players, including herself, to be friends on Snapchat. She said at first they would send each other images of their pets and talk about football – but she said this progressed to Roper sending images of himself topless which showed his underwear.
In a statement the child explained she sent him some pictures of her pet, with him doing the same in return. However, these images got “progressively odd”. Roper would send her pictures of his pet but he would be topless in the background, he then started sending her pictures of just him topless and in his underwear, and sometimes his pet would be somewhere in the picture.
A child who also received messages on Snapchat from Roper said some of the messages were sexually based, such as, “guess you must’ve been wearing a lucky thong today” and “next time you tie up your laces just bend over in front of me.”
Roper stated that he has taken many hours for self-reflection to try and understand how his good intentions went wrong. He apologised for his short fallings as a coach and stated that he has removed himself from social media and no longer uses it for messaging.
Sarah Buxcey, acting on behalf of the secretary of state, concluded in the report: “Mr Joshua Roper is prohibited from teaching indefinitely and cannot teach in any school, sixth form college, relevant youth accommodation or children’s home in England. Furthermore, in view of the seriousness of the allegations found proved against him, I have decided that Mr Roper shall not be entitled to apply for restoration of his eligibility to teach.”
The Independent has contacted Sheringham Community Primary School for comment.
