British school teacher runs away with teenage student
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Safriz
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Police were informed about concerns of an inappropriate relationship
between 15-year-old Megan Stammers and her married maths teacher
shortly before the pair fled to France. Officers were told last week as Bishop Bell C of E school in Eastbourne
investigated suspicions over the closeness of the schoolgirl and Jeremy
Forrest, 30. Questions have been raised over how education officials dealt with the
warnings. The school was criticised as Sussex police appealed to Megan's friends
to come forward if they knew of the pair's plans. Releasing CCTV images of the two walking hand-in-hand aboard the
Dover to Calais ferry, Chief Inspector Jason Tingley said he hoped the
photographs would help the public recognise the pair. "Although they
entered France, it is possible that they are elsewhere now," he said. The school's headteacher, Terry Boatwright, confirmed that concerns
had been raised about the relationship. "The school, in conjunction
with the local authority, Megan's parents, and the police had been
addressing and investigating those concerns, in line with procedure,
when this happened," he told The Argus, the local newspaper. It was not yet clear when the school began taking action or when and
what the schoolgirl's parents were told. It was also unclear if Forrest had been approached by police, or
suspended from his job, prior to their disappearance. According to reports, concerns were first expressed seven months ago
by other pupils to another teacher at the school after seeing the two
holding hands together on a flight back from a school trip to Los
Angeles in February. Megan had been receiving after-school lessons in
maths since before the summer. Megan and Forrest, an amateur musician from Ringmer, near Lewes,
boarded a ferry from Dover to Calais at 9.30pm on Thursday. The pair,
who are believed to have been travelling in Forrest's black Ford Fiesta,
had booked a return ticket for Sunday but did not use it. A friend received a text on Friday from Megan saying they had arrived
in France, but it was not from her phone. The incident is the second
involving a teacher and pupils at the school in recent years. In 2009, a
supply teacher, Robert Healy, 27, was jailed for seven years at Lewes
crown court after grooming two female pupils on social networking
site Bebo. Jailing him, Judge Charles Kemp said his "predatory" behaviour was a "grave breach of trust". A former chair of governors, Canon Gordon Rideout, 73, is due to
appear at crown court next month charged with 38 child sex offences
over an 11-year period from 1962. The school has previously
acknowledged the links but said he was not a member of staff and the
allegations were historical and unrelated to the school. East Sussex county council refused to give further details of the
investigation into Megan's case because it was ongoing. Lucy Duckworth, from the National Association for People Abused in
Childhood, said she has had concerns for some time over the school's
safeguarding policy. "Policies are still not in place to foster a culture
where safeguarding is a priority as it should be in any institution
where adults act in loco parentis," she told the BBC. However, Boatwright said: "Bishop Bell School has a robust
safeguarding policy, takes safeguarding very seriously and the
effectiveness of its safeguarding procedures is rated 'outstanding' by
Ofsted." The local MP, the Liberal Democrat Stephen Lloyd, defended the school,
saying its inquiries into the concerns raised about Megan and Forrest
would have been conducted in an "exemplary manner". Appealing to the schoolgirl's friends, Ch Insp Tingley said they should
not feel scared of divulging information. "We do know that [Megan]
has spoken about perhaps going somewhere but we just need to get
really into the specific detail of that," he told BBC Radio 4's Today
programme. One 15-year-old friend of Megan told the Daily Mail other pupils were
aware of the relationship: "They would always text each other. He
would send her messages saying things like 'I miss you' and 'I can't
wait to hug you'. "We are really angry the school did not do enough to protect Megan.
And now no one knows where she is or if she's coming back."I don't
know how it all started with Mr Forrest but to begin with she was
really excited about it. "She would tweet about being in love and show us his texts. But after
it was reported she stopped and then deleted her Twitter account. She
never spoke about it after that and she didn't tell any of us that she
was leaving. She probably knew we would stop her." The child abuse campaigner Marilyn Hawes, a teacher for 25 years, said
as soon as there were suspicions, Forrest should have been suspended.
The founder of Enough Abuse said: "Why hasn't someone put their
hands up and said, 'I'm culpable and I'm negligent'? They got it wrong.
Where was the remit of care from other staff saying be careful with
this one? "The headteacher has a duty of care and that has not been delivered." Anyone with information is asked to call Sussex Police on 101, quoting
Operation Oakwood.
between 15-year-old Megan Stammers and her married maths teacher
shortly before the pair fled to France. Officers were told last week as Bishop Bell C of E school in Eastbourne
investigated suspicions over the closeness of the schoolgirl and Jeremy
Forrest, 30. Questions have been raised over how education officials dealt with the
warnings. The school was criticised as Sussex police appealed to Megan's friends
to come forward if they knew of the pair's plans. Releasing CCTV images of the two walking hand-in-hand aboard the
Dover to Calais ferry, Chief Inspector Jason Tingley said he hoped the
photographs would help the public recognise the pair. "Although they
entered France, it is possible that they are elsewhere now," he said. The school's headteacher, Terry Boatwright, confirmed that concerns
had been raised about the relationship. "The school, in conjunction
with the local authority, Megan's parents, and the police had been
addressing and investigating those concerns, in line with procedure,
when this happened," he told The Argus, the local newspaper. It was not yet clear when the school began taking action or when and
what the schoolgirl's parents were told. It was also unclear if Forrest had been approached by police, or
suspended from his job, prior to their disappearance. According to reports, concerns were first expressed seven months ago
by other pupils to another teacher at the school after seeing the two
holding hands together on a flight back from a school trip to Los
Angeles in February. Megan had been receiving after-school lessons in
maths since before the summer. Megan and Forrest, an amateur musician from Ringmer, near Lewes,
boarded a ferry from Dover to Calais at 9.30pm on Thursday. The pair,
who are believed to have been travelling in Forrest's black Ford Fiesta,
had booked a return ticket for Sunday but did not use it. A friend received a text on Friday from Megan saying they had arrived
in France, but it was not from her phone. The incident is the second
involving a teacher and pupils at the school in recent years. In 2009, a
supply teacher, Robert Healy, 27, was jailed for seven years at Lewes
crown court after grooming two female pupils on social networking
site Bebo. Jailing him, Judge Charles Kemp said his "predatory" behaviour was a "grave breach of trust". A former chair of governors, Canon Gordon Rideout, 73, is due to
appear at crown court next month charged with 38 child sex offences
over an 11-year period from 1962. The school has previously
acknowledged the links but said he was not a member of staff and the
allegations were historical and unrelated to the school. East Sussex county council refused to give further details of the
investigation into Megan's case because it was ongoing. Lucy Duckworth, from the National Association for People Abused in
Childhood, said she has had concerns for some time over the school's
safeguarding policy. "Policies are still not in place to foster a culture
where safeguarding is a priority as it should be in any institution
where adults act in loco parentis," she told the BBC. However, Boatwright said: "Bishop Bell School has a robust
safeguarding policy, takes safeguarding very seriously and the
effectiveness of its safeguarding procedures is rated 'outstanding' by
Ofsted." The local MP, the Liberal Democrat Stephen Lloyd, defended the school,
saying its inquiries into the concerns raised about Megan and Forrest
would have been conducted in an "exemplary manner". Appealing to the schoolgirl's friends, Ch Insp Tingley said they should
not feel scared of divulging information. "We do know that [Megan]
has spoken about perhaps going somewhere but we just need to get
really into the specific detail of that," he told BBC Radio 4's Today
programme. One 15-year-old friend of Megan told the Daily Mail other pupils were
aware of the relationship: "They would always text each other. He
would send her messages saying things like 'I miss you' and 'I can't
wait to hug you'. "We are really angry the school did not do enough to protect Megan.
And now no one knows where she is or if she's coming back."I don't
know how it all started with Mr Forrest but to begin with she was
really excited about it. "She would tweet about being in love and show us his texts. But after
it was reported she stopped and then deleted her Twitter account. She
never spoke about it after that and she didn't tell any of us that she
was leaving. She probably knew we would stop her." The child abuse campaigner Marilyn Hawes, a teacher for 25 years, said
as soon as there were suspicions, Forrest should have been suspended.
The founder of Enough Abuse said: "Why hasn't someone put their
hands up and said, 'I'm culpable and I'm negligent'? They got it wrong.
Where was the remit of care from other staff saying be careful with
this one? "The headteacher has a duty of care and that has not been delivered." Anyone with information is asked to call Sussex Police on 101, quoting
Operation Oakwood.
livingdead
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This should be in member's club, you dont have to post teacher student affairs in world affairs section. 
livingdead
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Those were shoking crime (rape and abuse), on a large scale, inolving many people.
There is an allegation that it went on for years and police knew about it.
This is just a small love story.
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