A former acting head teacher of Cambridge International School has been sentenced to a year in prison for attempting to groom a 15-year-old boy on the Grindr dating app. Glyn Knowles, 50, was caught in a sting operation conducted by an undercover journalist posing as a teenager.
St Albans Crown Court heard that Knowles used a false name to respond to the fake profile. In his first message, he wrote: 'Hi, nice pic mate, very sexy.' He then steered the conversation towards sex, sent the boy a picture of himself in his underwear, and asked intimate questions.
Knowles arranged to meet the boy in Bishop's Stortford, but the journalist alerted Hertfordshire Police, who intercepted him on 14 July. Initially, Knowles claimed he intended to meet the boy to advise him on internet safety, but later admitted the grooming charge.
Sentencing Knowles, Judge Andrew Bright QC stated: 'You were responsible for the protection of children, not the abuse of children.' Knowles, who was also responsible for child protection at his school, was sacked in July after admitting the offence.
