Headteacher of Llanelli school reassures parents after former 'staff' child porn arrest

THE head teacher of a Llanelli secondary school has reassured parents following the arrest and charge of a former member of staff accused of making and possessing indecent images of children.

Jeffrey William Gravell, 53, of Heol Panteg in Burry Port, denies 15 charges of making indecent photographs of children, as well as one charge of possessing more than 250,000 indecent photographs of children.

The 53-year-old also denies stealing four computers worth more than �2,000 belonging to Carmarthenshire Council on August 4, 2010, and stealing a quantity of computers and computer-related equipment of an unknown value from Coedcae Comprehensive School between January 1, 2000, and August 1, 2010.

In connection with the offences, Helen Christina Griffiths, 46, of the same address, denies arranging to handle stolen goods between January 1, 2000 and August 1, 2010, and stealing four computers from Coedcae School on August 4, 2010.

The school's head teacher Pete Spencer has now released a statement relating to the arrest and charge of the former member of non-teaching staff in an attempt to placate parents' fears.

He said the school had been cooperating fully with the police throughout the investigation, and reassured parents that there was no known evidence that the images involved any local children or Coedcae School students.

He added that the school had security systems in place to prohibit the downloading of inappropriate material and confirmed that no images had been located on computers within the school.

"When the individual was employed by the local authority all appropriate background checks had been undertaken, none of which identified any historical issues which would have made the individual unsuitable to work in a school environment," he said.

"The issue has had no adverse impact upon the day-to-day operation of the school. The welfare of our children is of paramount importance and this is demonstrated in the recent Estyn inspection, which described our care and support for pupils as 'outstanding'. Due to legal reasons the school cannot make any further comment at this time."

alana.lewis@swwmedia.co.uk

Source: http://rss.feedsportal.com/c/32715/f/503366/s/13adcef3/l/0L0Sthisissouthwales0O0Cnews0Cschool0Ereacts0Echild0Eporn0Estaff0Earrest0Carticle0E33785410Edetail0Carticle0Bhtml/story01.htm

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