A primary school teacher who was found to have moonlighted as an escort has been banned from teaching indefinitely. Samantha Barguss, aged 30, was a teacher at Hall Green Infant School in Birmingham.
In 2022, the school received an anonymous complaint by letter alleging Ms Barguss was “openly working as an escort”.
On 24 January 2023, an initial meeting was held between the school and Ms Barguss, where she denied the claims, but the next day she admitted aspects of the allegations and resigned with immediate effect.
On 1 February 2023, Birmingham City Council referred the concerns to the Teaching Regulation Agency.
A subsequent tribunal considered screenshots of an online profile that were contained within the letter sent to the school.
In that correspondence, the author stated the profile was being run by Ms Barguss, and that this was clear due to links with her Facebook posts.
Still movie images appeared to show Ms Barguss engaging in sexual intercourse, while other pictures showed her body from a range of angles while she was wearing minimal clothing.
The panel noted that Ms Barguss admitted it was her who was pictured, but had, in her statement, denied she had been seeking financial gain.
She had stated Covid and lockdown had negatively impacted upon her and her relationship, and she joined the website from which the images were taken in order to meet “like-minded” individuals.
Ms Barguss also stated that she hid her tattoos in the pictures and that she had them taken in a way that, she perceived, prevented her identity from being exposed.
But the panel did not consider this was the case and noted that some of the images clearly showed her face.
The panel also noted that Ms Barguss had set out her availability and pricing structure within the online profile, detailing that she charged £120 for half an hour, £220 for an hour, and £1,600 overnight.
Ms Barguss stated she never gained any income from the website, and that her only intention was to explore her own relationship with a partner who also used the site.
In considering the matter, the panel found the price list particularly significant and noted that this was a clear indication of an intention to sell sexual services.
The panel did not consider that this evidence was compatible with the suggestion that Ms Barguss and her partner had solely intended to meet other like- minded couples.
In her statement, Ms Barguss said she took her position and role as a teacher seriously, and acknowledged the misjudgment of her actions, which she stated were both naïve and deeply regrettable.
The panel considered that it was at least possible that pupils may have been able to find this profile and that viewing their teacher in this way may lead them to consider that posting images of this nature was a way to make money.
The panel considered that this was a potentially dangerous perception and found her guilty of unacceptable professional conduct.
The tribunal prohibited Ms Barguss from teaching indefinitely and told her she may apply for the prohibition order to be set aside in July 2029.
–BBC
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