Headteacher showed video of him 'caressing' himself - hearing

A HEADTEACHER told a woman to come to his office for a meeting where he proceeded to open his laptop and play a video of what appeared to show him “caressing himself”, a professional standards hearing has been told.

- ABBIE WIGHTWICK Education editor

James “Jamie” Richards, former headteacher of Cadle Primary in Swansea, told her to come to his office to see a plan he was working on.

When the person, identified only as Colleague E, went to his office he shut the door and began playing her a video on his laptop.

“It was a video of James Richards. He was wearing a black polo shirt. He was caressing himself and touching his genitalia in clear view,” Colleague E told the Education Workforce Council (EWC) Wales hearing yesterday.

“He was watching my reaction. I was very scared.

“I was shut in his office with him.

“It was an incredibly vulnerable situation. I was in shock and wanted to get out.

“I knew I needed to report concerns but was worried I would lose my job.”

On an earlier occasion she said Richards had called her to his office to check a presentation, but when he opened his laptop showed her photos of what he “made clear was his own penis”.

Shortly after that Richards allegedly forced her to see “d*** pics” which he brought up on his phone during an online meeting they attended in his office.

The headteacher waved the images in front of her out of sight of others joining the meeting virtually, the EWC panel heard.

The hearing was told that Richards “made excuses” to arrange one to one meetings with the woman on a number of occasions.

He had brought up photographs of genitalia on a large screen in his office and later demanded of her: “have I pushed you to your limits yet?”, she told the panel.