Former Primary School Head Receives Lifetime Teaching Ban Over Explicit Online Conversations
A former primary school head teacher and safeguarding lead has been permanently prohibited from the teaching profession after engaging in disturbing online discussions about sexually abusing children. Paul Brown, who served at Bransgore Church of England Primary School in Christchurch, Hampshire, left his position in April 2024 citing 'personal reasons'. However, it has now been revealed that he was arrested in July 2023 on suspicion of paedophile offences, although no criminal charges were ultimately brought against him.
Explicit Exchanges on Fetish Website During School Hours
Between June and July 2023, Brown used the bondage, discipline, sadism and masochism (BDSM) website Fetlife to communicate with a woman who identified herself as a mother of daughters aged five and nine. Alarmingly, some of these exchanges occurred during normal school hours while Brown was employed in his educational role. In these messages, Brown graphically described sexually abusing a child and asked the woman whether she had given her daughters 'special mummy time' and access to 'her toys'.
The former teacher further inquired if the young girls had watched pornography and suggested they could be introduced to him as a 'friend from work'. Brown discussed sexually abusing the children while the mother would 'watch/support/encourage' them, and provided explicit details about how he claimed to have been involved with another mother and sexually abused her three children.
Police Investigation and Contradictory Explanations
Following his arrest, Brown offered multiple conflicting explanations for his conduct. Initially, he claimed he believed the conversations were 'all fantasy' and that the children mentioned did not actually exist. He stated that when the woman began discussing them, 'it made him think twice' and he contacted her to say it was a 'mistake' to be in touch. Brown asserted he intended to remain friends with her but blocked her when he heard 'real children' in the background during a conversation.
Later, Brown told police he had fabricated the story about the mother and her three children and insisted he 'would never consider harming a child'. A forensic examination of his electronic devices revealed no evidence of other similar conversations, though this did not mitigate the seriousness of the exchanges that did occur.
Teaching Regulation Agency Investigation and Findings
The revelations came to light after the Teaching Regulation Agency (TRA) found Brown guilty of unacceptable professional misconduct and bringing his profession into disrepute in November. Despite the disturbing nature of the conversations, the misconduct panel heard character witness statements in Brown's defence. One individual wrote: 'I agree that he acted unwisely and without rational perspective but I don't believe he has ever, or would ever, harm another human being, including a child.'
Another supporter claimed: 'I believe that Paul is safe to work with children' and described him as a 'good man who has had his life's work taken away by this very sad affair'. However, the TRA panel noted with concern that despite being aware children were at 'risk of sexual abuse', Brown failed to report the profile to the website or contact the police about the situation.
Complex Psychological Explanations and School Response
Brown did not attend the TRA hearing but submitted a letter and statement in October 2025 admitting to 'large parts of the allegations facing him'. He claimed to have 'fabricated' portions of his conversations to 'encourage Person A to open up and tell him more about what she was planning to do'. During a school disciplinary hearing in January 2024, Brown offered additional explanations, suggesting he had been 'unknowingly speaking to an undercover police officer' and that they discussed abuse and 'a shared experience when he was a child'.
In his statements to the TRA, Brown revealed he had been abused as a child himself and described the conversations with Person A as a 'response to a dark, morbid and intense fascination' stemming from 'unresolved post-trauma and poor state of mental and physical health'. He also cited being under 'personal and professional pressure' at the time and described the conversations as a 'one off' occurrence during a period when he was in a 'bad place mentally'.
The TRA ultimately concluded that Brown had not 'evidenced any understanding of the fundamental risks his actions posed towards children', leading to the lifetime prohibition from teaching. A spokesperson for Bransgore Church of England Primary School emphasised: 'The safety and wellbeing of all pupils is our absolute priority. Any safeguarding concerns relating to staff would always be treated extremely seriously and, as we have done on this occasion, we would always act to ensure the most appropriate course of action is taken.'
The school confirmed they had referred the matter to the TRA following their own internal investigation and expressed satisfaction that 'the outcome of this investigation reflects the seriousness of the individual's conduct'. It has been clarified that the abuse discussed in the online conversations was not connected to the school itself.
