Teacher ‘used Google Translate to ask little one to strip’ on gaming platform
Liam Quinn was sacked from his post as an IT teacher at Audenshaw School in Greater Manchester, with a panel hearing further grim details about the case last month
Liam Quinn taught at Audenshaw School(Image: Google Maps)
A teacher has been banned from the profession after using Google Translate to ask a child to remove their shorts on a streaming platform.
Liam Quinn, 32, was suspended as an IT and Computing teacher at Audenshaw School, Greater Manchester, amid a police investigation in April 2020. He was sacked from the school the following month.
Now, a misconduct panel has heard how Quinn used a profile online gaming platform Twitch to chat to a youngster, before asking them to remove their shorts via Google Translate – which the child did.
A panel heard how Quinn contacted child via Twitch (stock)(Image: SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)
The former teacher told authorities he engaged in “trolling” behaviour and often behaved as an “idiot in the chat”, while using a secondary account on the platform to avoid restrictions.
Quinn admitted to Greater Manchester Police he initially saw the exchange as a “stupid joke” in order to provoke a reaction. He received a conditional caution in 2024 for causing or inciting a child under 13 to engage in sexual activity.
The panel heard how Quinn “maintained that he had not entered the chat with the intention of obtaining sexual gratification or forming a personal relationship with the child.”
The teacher has been banned from classrooms (stock)(Image: Getty Images/Maskot)
Quinn’s actions were described as “exceptionally serious”, with the panel concluding his behaviour may lead to pupils being exposed to, or influenced by, the behaviour in a harmful way.
The panel found “limited evidence that Mr Quinn had fully recognised the potential impact of his conduct on the child involved, the harm that such conduct may cause to children, and the seriousness of his misconduct.
The panel added: “It involved Quinn accepting a conditional caution for causing or inciting a child under 13 to engage in sexual activity and this involved conduct which was facilitated through online communications with a child.
“The lack of evidence that Mr Quinn has developed full insight means that there is some risk of the repetition of this behaviour and this jeopardises the future wellbeing of pupils.”
Quinn cannot teach in any school, sixth form college, relevant youth accommodation or children’s home in England. He also cannot apply for restoration of his eligibility to teach, due to the seriousness of his behaviour.
