A female deputy head teacher who laughed and giggled whilst she sexually assaulted a youngster and her partner raped a child under thirteen has been permanently barred from teaching.
Now 46, Julie Morris was safeguarding lead’ at St George’s Central Primary School in Tyldesley, Greater Manchester, where she performed acts of ‘severe sexual depravity’ alongside her mechanic partner.
She and David Morris, 52, had met on the dating website Plenty of Fish in 2016, and their relationship swiftly grew to be ‘intensely sexual.’
Merseyside Police examined almost 175,000 pages of chat records and found that the couple had disgusting talks about their fetishes and sexually abusing children.
Between 2018 and 2021, defendants—who were not married but shared the same surname—abused a 13-year-old child on several visits.
David Morris would regularly capture the horrible mistreatment on his cell phone, and the court heard from the recordings showing Julie Morris laughing during the abuse.
Morris’s offending was judged by a panel following the court case to be “deliberate and sustained”, and there is a “real risk” of reoffending as they determined she would not be able to resume her career.
After meeting on the dating service Plenty of Fish in 2016, Julie Morris and David Morris—both pictured—had a rapidly ‘intensely sexual’ relationship.
Between 2018 and 2021, defendants (shown), who were not married but had the same surname, mistreated a girl under 13 multiple times.
Morris worked at St George’s Central CofE Primary in Tyldesley as Deputy Headteacher and Safeguarding Lead. None of the criminal charges connected Morris’s work or the institution.
Morris did snap pictures of students and forward them to her partner, but none of the criminal accusations connected to her position or the school. Police claimed there was ‘no evidence that any of the youngsters were abused’ and the photographs were not illegal or lewd.’
Police followed phone communications David Morris had shared with another arrested earlier that year, and they discovered their mistreatment of the girl in September 2021. Officers stormed his house on Sandfield Road in the Eccleston district of St Helens.
He was detained and then released on conditions. But the following day, authorities learnt that Morris and his partner, Julie Morris, had sexually abused a kid and that the couple intended to flee.
Following their tracking to an address in Hindley, Wigan, they discovered a campervan loaded with possessions and 10,000 in cash the following day.
Judge Andrew Menary stated before Liverpool Crown Court passed sentence in December 2021: “I see many cases involving the terrible abuse of children, but now and again we see instances, the circumstances of which are almost beyond imagination. Among those cases is this one. Sadly, it shows how human depravity knows no depth.
According to a panel ruling, Morris would not be permitted to resume his lifetime career in teaching.
Admitting eighteen sexual offences, including two charges of rape, Julie Morris was imprisoned for thirteen years and four months with an extended four-year licence. David Morris was imprisoned for sixteen years with an additional four years on license after admitting thirty-four charges, including seven counts of rape.
Under existing law, a woman can only be guilty of rape in concert.
Police said they had “multi-agency meetings” with Wigan Council, the local educational authority, and Julie Morris was taken off her role on September 21. Following her conviction and sentence, she was brought to the Teaching Regulation Agency (TRA), which deals with misbehaviour matters.
A three-person panel convened on February 19 this year to hear her case. Julie Morris was there and completed it without a public hearing at her request. They concluded that her actions went against her being a teacher.
A study of their results states: “Her behaviour ran counter to what should be at the very core of the practice of a teacher with a duty of care towards children.”
David Morris was imprisoned for sixteen years with an additional four years on license after confessing to thirty-four charges, including seven counts of rape.
Parents at St George’s Central C of E Primary School in Wigan, where Julie Morris oversaw safety, recounted their ‘complete shock’ upon learning what the ‘well regarded’ and apparently ‘kind’ teacher had done.
48-year-old Coleen Williams told MailOnline: “I’m in absolute amazement. Her kids attend the school. She seemed to have two personalities.
She looked so beautiful at school, but how could she be when she had committed something so horrible? That is disgusting. She ought to have had a longer jail term.
‘It’s terrible what she has done,’ said Liz Hunter, 61, whose grandchild attended the institution. Parents put her in charge of looking after their children.
‘I don’t know who she could have done this. I feel so sorry for the poor children involved, but I’m sure every parent at the school is so relieved it didn’t involve any pupils.’
‘The panel considered that Ms Morris’ behaviour in committing these offences would undoubtedly affect public confidence in the teaching profession, particularly given the influence that teachers may have on pupils, parents and others in the community. Her conduct ran counter to what should be at the very core of a teacher’s practice with a duty of care towards children.
‘The fact that Ms Morris was also the safeguarding lead at her school makes her offending all the more shocking in that, whilst the designated point of contact for welfare and safety concerns at the School, she herself was engaged in abusing a child, albeit not one at the school.’
They added the offences were ‘were at the most serious end of the sexual offending spectrum in terms of gravity, and had the potential to cause lasting harm’ to the victim, whose identity is protected by reporting restrictions.
The report said Julie Morris had ‘engaged’ with the TRA and had ‘made full admissions expressing regret for her actions.’ She was also said to have had an ‘otherwise unblemished record.’
However, they also found that her offending was ‘deliberate and sustained, and there was no evidence that she was acting under duress.’ They added a ‘real risk of Ms Morris repeating her offending.’
Following their findings, a decision maker acting on behalf of the Secretary of State prohibited her from teaching indefinitely on February 27. This means she cannot teach in any school, sixth-form college, youth accommodation, or children’s home.
‘Furthermore, given the seriousness of the allegations against her, I have decided that Ms Morris shall not be entitled to apply for restoration of her eligibility to teach,’ he said.