‘Smirking’ headteacher had ‘erect penis on show’ as he flashed colleague | UK | News

A Welsh school headmaster invited a staff member into his office before showing off his erect penis, a hearing heard. James Richards is accused of several incidents of inappropriate behavior relating to his time as headteacher of Cadle Primary School in Ravenhill, Swansea.

The Education Workforce Council (EWC) heard from a former colleague of Richards’ who told how an alleged incident a decade ago left him feeling “worthless” and “awful”. The woman, known as colleague B, said Richards called her and asked her to come to his office to pick up a form. She said after knocking on the door and being told to come in, she found Mr Richards standing with his trousers down and his “erect penis sticking out”. Hearing chair Sara Lewis asked colleague B: “What exactly did you see when you opened the door?”

“He was standing there, his trousers were open and pulled down, and his penis was erect,” colleague B replied, while claiming how Richards was grinning as he flashed his genitals.

Another former colleague, known as Colleague C, told the hearing that Richards made comments about comparing the woman’s breasts to his wife’s breasts shortly after meeting the woman in his office in June 2013.

A month later, colleague C claimed Richards showed her a picture of his penis on his mobile phone while the pair were in the school computer room.

Colleague C said he didn’t look at the picture long enough to know whether it was hanging or erect, but “I wanted to get out of the room as quickly as possible.”

He added: “I was very panicked. I was uneasy about the situation.”

The EWC hearing on Monday was told Mr Richards showed his penis to a teacher and told her: “Examine this, ma’am.”

Mr. Richards was formally suspended from his duties on September 13, 2021, and is removed from office in 2024.

The panel was told that because Mr Richards was not present at the hearing, was not represented and did not respond to the EWC, all claims were deemed to have been dismissed.

The hearing, which is expected to last five days, continues.