Teacher struck off after letting class watch video showing Shrek have sex with orphan boy- Scottish News

A TEACHER has been struck off after she allowed pupils to watch a cartoon in which Shrek has sex with an orphan.

Chemistry teacher Claire Thompson sat by as the graphic cartoon also showed Shrek murder and rape other care home children.

The video was watched by fifth year pupils, liked to be aged 16 or 17, at Queen Anne High School, Dunfermline, Fife.

At a disciplinary hearing in Edinburgh last month of the General Teaching Council for Scotland (GTCS), a senior teacher called the video “inappropriate, sexual and paedophilic”.

The hearing was told that similar videos were watched by the class, in the teacher’s presence, over several weeks.

Although the GTCS did not name the video they confirmed it showed Shrek having sex with an orphan. Exactly that happens in a six-minute, 18 certificate cartoon, Shrek is Love Shrek is Life 4ever After, available on YouTube.

Ms Thompson was asked by pupils if she could put on the video towards the end of a double period in the autumn of 2016. She was seen to “watch for a bit and laugh” as the video was shown on the class Smart Board.

In the video a 12-year-old boy is seen being bullied by other children at the orphanage for how much he loves the ogre character.

Shrek then appears in the clip, holds the boy’s hand and follows him down to confront the other children.

As a “birthday present” Shrek snaps the necks of several bullies and then impales the survivors with his penis.

After looking at Shrek, the 12-year-old boy then says that he gives into “his basic primal urges.”

The boy then kneels down on the ground, so that Shrek can have sex with him.

Shrek is then seen smiling before performing the act and according to the narrator, filling the boy’s bowels with “musky fluid.”

Shrek is then seen taking the child back to his bedroom where he tells him “I am your father, laddie” before the clip ends.

Teaching staff were made aware of the incident when a pupil reported the clips to the Deputy Headteacher.

According to the GTCS, the depute head said: “They were worse than she expected. She was clear that they were inappropriate, sexual and paedophilic.”

When confronted, the deputy headteacher said Ms Thompson was “was defiant and confrontational, saying that it was the school’s fault, the previous teacher’s fault, the kids’ fault”.

One pupil who gave evidence at the hearing said the “Shrek video particularly stuck in her mind” and “other inappropriate videos of a sexual nature were also shown.”

The pupil also said Ms Thompson “seemed to think that they were funny” but she reported the incident to the Depute Headteacher.

Another pupil told the hearing there were “two or three follow-up Shrek videos shown, with the same theme of Shrek having sexual intercourse with a boy”.

The videos were shown “once a week” after the first clip was first displayed to the class, said the witness, who also gave evidence that a video about “German and Russian torture techniques” was also shown.

Queen Anne High School headmaster, Ruth McFarlane, told the GTCS that the decision was taken to suspend Ms Thompson following an investigation.

Ms Thompson was also found to have been repeatedly leave pupils unsupervised within the classroom, with one pupil telling the hearing she left the classroom for “as long as half an hour.”

Speaking about the decision, the GTCS branded the clips shown as “inappropriate.”

They said: “The Panel was satisfied that the material was shown repeatedly. The Panel relied on the evidence of Pupil A who said the videos were shown once a week, and Pupil D who said that 4- 5 videos were played.

“Both pupils explained that the Teacher was aware of the videos being played and allowed this. The written statements from Pupils B, C and E confirm that a number of videos were shown. Pupils D and E said they were shown once a week.

“The Panel was satisfied that the video contained material of an inappropriate nature and that the Teacher allowed this in her presence, on the basis of all of the evidence from the pupils both orally and in statement form.

“The Panel also noted that the Headteacher and the Depute Headteacher had regarded the videos “they viewed as inappropriate.”

Ms Thompson did not attend the hearing and also claimed that she only showed an inappropriate clip once and blamed a lack of support.

The published GTCS report from the hearing said: “The panel regarded the conduct as very serious. The panel noted that the Teacher had partially admitted the allegations, which demonstrated partial insight.

“Her response document, however, did not demonstrate any insight into potential damage to the pupils from her behaviour.

“Her previous response did say she was sorry for making pupils feel uncomfortable but she had not realised this was the situation. The teacher had not fully admitted the allegations, or offered a clear expression of regret to the class.

“In her response documents, although she made partial admissions she blamed other circumstances such as lack of support within the department.

“Because the Teacher did not attend the hearing, the Panel was unable to question her to ascertain more clearly the level of her insight in order to remediate the conduct and mitigate against the risk of it happening again.”

Ms Thompson is not allowed to apply for re-registration for two years.