Eton College teacher made indecent internet searches

A former teacher at Eton College has been barred from working in the profession after he searched for indecent images of children on his work laptop, a misconduct panel has ruled.

David Goode, 53, who taught at the Windsor school from 2005 to 2022, admitted to carrying out the sexually-motivated internet searches.

In 2022, Mr Goode wrote a letter to a colleague which referred to “illegal images” for which he said he was “massively regretful”.

The evidence was referred to a panel of the Teaching Regulation Agency (TRA), which found his conduct serious enough to bring the profession into disrepute.

The search terms included “gay little boys” and “cute thai boys”, the panel found.

Mr Goode was employed as an organist and music teacher when he was warned in 2017 about using the school’s IT network to attempt to access pornography.

The school’s IT monitoring system alerted the safeguarding team that he had conducted several suspicious searches on his work laptop in 2021.

He was suspended immediately, police were informed, and Mr Goode was arrested on suspicion of possession and distribution of indecent images of children.

In 2022, police confirmed they would be taking "no further action" as there was no evidence to prove Mr Goode was in possession of indecent images of children.

The panel found his actions constituted "unacceptable professional conduct".

Mr Goode has been included in the Children’s Barred List and he is prohibited from teaching indefinitely.

A spokesperson for Eton College said: "We fully support the decision to bar Mr David Goode from teaching.

"While there is no evidence to suggest that any Eton pupil was at risk during Mr Goode’s employment or as a result of these searches, the safety and wellbeing of all young people remains our top priority.

"Eton College remains committed to maintaining rigorous safeguarding practices and fostering a culture where pupils, parents, and staff can confidently raise any concerns."

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