A SCOTS primary school teacher is fighting to keep his job after being accused of touching several colleagues inappropriately.
Paul Graham is alleged to have acted in a sexually motivated manner towards seven women who he worked with at two schools across East Ayrshire between 2016 and 2018.
The teacher, from Kilwinning, North Ayrshire, has been accused of rubbing his legs whilst revealing explicitly sexual details about himself to a colleague in 2017.
It is also claimed he acted inappropriately towards the woman on multiple occasions by touching, rubbing and squeezing her shoulders.
Whilst working at Bellsbank Primary School in 2016, Graham allegedly rubbed another colleague’s neck and shoulders on multiple occasions, as well as touching her hair.
Despite being pulled up by his line manager about touching his colleagues inappropriately he then went on to put his arms around one peer’s body.
Graham has also been accused of acting inappropriately towards another four colleagues from the same school by touching them, rubbing their shoulders, putting his hands around their waists and even kissing some.
While working at another school, Dalmellington Primary School, Graham faced further accusations from another colleague who said he exposed sexually explicit details about his private life to her.
He was also said to have placed his hand on top of hers, kissed her on the forehead and placed his arms around her shoulders.
Graham today admitted all of the allegations apart from kissing a colleague on the cheek and that his actions were sexually motivated.
He now faces being removed from the teaching register following an investigation over the incidents by the General Teaching Council for Scotland (GTCS).
Megan Ferguson, a former colleague of Graham’s, told the hearing this morning how she felt uncomfortable when he would come into the computer room when she was alone.
She said: “I worked at Bellsbank Primary and I used to have my time out in the computer room on a Tuesday, Mr Graham would come up behind me and start massaging my shoulders.
I would say it happened over ten times from August 2016 when I started.
“I would be sitting facing the computer and assume Mr Graham would be using a computer, he would say alright kid how are you getting on, there was never anyone else in the room – he would massage my shoulder and back.
“I would freeze up, I didn’t see him as a superior but it probably went on for a couple of months.
“He didn’t touch me whenever anyone else was around – I didn’t really make the connection until after and speaking to other people, if I were to hazard a guess I imagine he knew it was inappropriate.
“As a professional and as an adult you should know that you don’t touch people without their permission.
“I felt uncomfortable, it was unwanted touching, I suppose it was almost a surprise, I couldn’t see it coming, there was never an invitation put out to be touched.
“It wouldn’t be prolonged but it lasted a minute or two maybe.
“I never verbalised anything, no – I would be facing forward, I wouldn’t be looking at him.”
The hearing continues.
