UK instructor had intercourse with child in automotive park via ‘Convos with Keith’ Facebook chat

Robert Keith, 33, has been banned from teaching after the Teaching Regulation Agency was ‘particularly concerned about the escalation in his behaviour, which, was akin to grooming’

A teacher who had sex with a female pupil in his car has been banned from the profession. Robert Keith was found to have committed a serious exploitative breach of trust between 2013 and 2016 by the Teaching Regulation Agency (TRA).

Keith, now 33, invited the student, then aged under 16, into his car and touched her sexually. The former teacher at All Saints Academy in Dunstable, Bedfordshire, also invited the girl and another pupil to his home.

Bedfordshire Police said a man in his 20s was arrested on suspicion of causing or inciting a child under 16 to engage in sexual activity but was released without further action following an investigation. In evidence given to a TRA panel, the student said Keith had communicated with her and another student using a Facebook Messenger group called “Convos with Keith”.

The two students and Keith developed a bond in the academic year of 2013 to 2014, the TRA report stated. The shamed teacher admitted in a police interview that sexual comments were made in the group but argued they were jokes.

The girl told the panel she and Keith discussed having sex and formed a plan to do so before she met him in his car in a car park on July 3, 2014. The teacher is alleged to have touched her thigh and under her clothes before touching her sexually between her legs.

Keith sent a text message suggesting they should “just stay friends” on a later date. He also drove the student and another pupil to his home to watch television in late July.

In December 2015 the girl told her mum that something had happened between her and Keith, and her mum reported it to the school.

Keith admitted the car park meeting had taken place but in a police interview denied touching the girl sexually or under her clothes. He claimed he had only touched her thigh as a reassuring gesture but the panel rejected his claim.

The TRA found that Keith’s conduct involved serious sexual misconduct towards a child, which had caused long-term harm. He failed to show up at the hearing, where the girl told the panel the experience had made her scared to trust any teachers.

In its recommendation, the panel said it was “particularly concerned about the escalation in Mr Keith’s behaviour, which, in the panel’s view, was akin to grooming”. He is now prohibited from teaching indefinitely and is not entitled to apply for restoration of his eligibility to teach.

For the latest breaking news and stories from across the globe from the Daily Star, sign up for our newsletters.