Teacher banned after sending naked images to girls

A teacher who sent explicit images of himself to girls as young as 12 will never be allowed to teach again.

Robert Collins, 39, was head of art at Formby High School in Merseyside when he sent sexual messages to several young girls over a four-year period.

He was caught in June 2023 after messaging an undercover police officer posing as a 12-year-old girl. Collins asked if she wanted to be "in detention" with him, repeatedly requested photographs of her body and sent her an explicit image of himself.

Collins was jailed in 2024 and he has now been prohibited from teaching following a Teaching Regulation Agency (TRA) hearing.

A misconduct panel heard the messages were sent between August 2019 and May 2023.

One girl, who was traced by police, confirmed she had chatted with Collins on Snapchat, FaceTime and Omegle, a video chat website that shut down in November 2023.

At Liverpool Crown Court in September 2024, Collins pleaded guilty to engaging in sexual communication with a child, attempting to incite a girl to engage in sexual activity, possessing indecent images of a child and attempting to engage in sexual communication with a child.

He was jailed for two-and-a-half years, given an indefinite Sexual Harm Prevention Order and ordered to sign the sex offenders' register for life.

The court heard he told one girl he was moderating GCSE artwork and offered to help her with her studies. He later sent her a picture of his genitals and asked her to send photographs of herself, which she refused to do.

Collins was also found to have asked a 13-year-old girl to send explicit images.

Although he initially denied the offences, Collins later admitted them and told police: "I was not targeting a particular aged female. It was scattergun."

He was dismissed from Formby High School in July 2023 after 11 years at the school.

The Teaching Regulation Agency (TRA) said Collins had reflected on the harm caused to his victims since his arrest and conviction. Its report said he claimed to have held a "mistaken belief" that some online behaviours, including the exchange of sexualised messages, were socially acceptable.

The TRA has now prohibited Collins from teaching indefinitely, preventing him from working in any school, sixth form college, relevant youth accommodation or children's home in England.

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