Jeremy Forrest: School Criticised for Failing to Take Action

The Telegraph
June 21, 2013

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/crime/10133396/Jeremy-Forrest-School-criticised-for-failing-to-take-action.html

Jeremy Forrest was jailed for five-and-a-half years for child sex offences and child abduction

The school which repeatedly failed to prevent a maths teacher from absconding to France with a teenager pupil was accused of multiple failings as he was found guilty of child abduction.

Campaigners said it was “absolutely phenomenal” that teaching staff at Bishop Bell School in Eastbourne did not heed repeated warnings about Jeremy Forrest’s relationship with the schoolgirl.

Forrest, 30, was cautioned about his behaviour by colleagues seven times in seven months and yet they failed to take any definitive action or report their concerns to the police.

Lucy Duckworth, founder of See Changes child protection charity, said it was astonishing that despite the concerns raised between February and July last year, the subject was abandoned at the start of the summer holidays, leaving the pair free to enjoy a full sexual relationship, spending numerous nights at local hotels and at his marital home.

She also questioned why, when Sussex Police were eventually tipped off about the illicit affair and seized the girl’s phone, they failed to monitor the pair overnight and then dropped the investigation.

“The school’s child protection officer saw fit to discuss the matter at a senior leadership meeting and yet still, nobody thought to suspend or report him,” she said.