Paedophile teacher who took upskirting photos of female pupils and kept child porn on laptop is banned from working in schools for life

A pedophile teacher and rugby coach who took ‘upskirt’ photos of schoolgirls and stored extreme pornography on his laptop has been banned from working in schools for life.

Richard Lees, 44, who worked at a school in Macclesfield, Cheshire, was convicted in November 2024 of four counts of voyeurism, recording images under another person’s clothing and three counts of taking indecent photographs of children.

He was also found guilty of possessing indecent photographs of a child and possessing excessive photographic imagery.

The pedophile was sentenced to two years in prison on Friday, February 7, 2025, and had his sentence reduced after the teaching misconduct board ruled he was a “persistent risk to women and girls”.

He was first arrested for an unrelated offense in July 2022 and police took no further action in the matter.

Officers seized a personal encrypted hard drive and laptop as part of their investigation and discovered extreme pornography as well as the most serious ‘category A’ images of children.

Police found upskirt photos of female students that the man had taken in the schoolyard and videos that he had taken of women in the bathroom of his home without their knowledge.

Lees was arrested again in September 2024 and charged with new offenses the following month.

The Teaching Regulation Agency misconduct panel, which investigated pedophilia, found his crimes involved ‘serious sexual offences, some of which involved children’.

It found “major breaches of trust, including offenses within and outside the school” against Lees, and highlighted “safety and welfare” concerns for students.

The board noted that ‘the offenses relating to the indecent photographs were on the school computer’ and lodged a motion with Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson to have him removed from the teaching register altogether.

The court found the pedophile ‘showed no apparent remorse’ and ‘assessed the risk of relapse to be high’.

Decision-maker David Oatley said: ‘In my view, the lack of insight and remorse means there is a risk of this behavior being repeated, which puts the future welfare of pupils at risk.’

‘Mr Richard Lees is prohibited from teaching indefinitely and cannot teach in any school, sixth form college, relevant youth accommodation or children’s home in England.

‘I have also decided that, given the seriousness of the allegations evidenced against him, Mr Lees will not be entitled to apply for the restoration of his right to teach.’

Lees was sentenced to two years in prison at Chester Crown Court (pictured) in February.

During sentencing last February, the judge told Lees: ‘You appear to be someone who has difficulty showing empathy.

‘I accept that you have painted a picture of great shame with your behavior, but it is clear that you do not want to associate yourself with these visual crimes.

‘Your description suggests that these appeared on your computer and you don’t know how.

‘This was originally your defence; You’re not someone who knows how to download them.

‘But it seems you definitely know how to use computer equipment, and you also know how to use it secretly. To suggest that they just appeared on your computer is nonsense.

‘It seems to me that you are not really ready to take responsibility for the fact that you have an unhealthy interest in such images.

‘You have accepted some responsibility for the crimes of voyeurism, but again, in my opinion, to a limited extent.’

The judge also said ‘it seems to me that you pose a risk to women with whom you come into social contact, you are considered to be at high risk of serious harm’.

‘You are also assessed as being at high risk of serious harm to children. ‘These are the assessments made by the probation officer who interviewed you.’

The judge said: ‘People send their children to school and they have a right to believe that they will be safe with their teachers and that no harm will come to them.

‘I’m afraid your actions have brought disgrace to your profession and your actions…are quite appalling.’

Lees is banned from teaching indefinitely and cannot teach at any school, sixth form college, relevant youth accommodation or children’s home in England.

He will not be able to apply for the restoration of his right to teach, but he has the right to appeal to the Supreme Court within 28 days from the date of notification of this decision.