Teacher banned after sending Snapchat images

Ross Bullen, a teacher at Priory Rise School, a primary in Milton Keynes, has been banned after a misconduct panel concluded he used Snapchat to send explicit images to a teenager, the BBC has reported.

Priory Rise School is part of 5 Dimensions Trust, which comprises three primary and three secondary schools catering to west Milton Keynes.

While working at Priory Rise, Bullen, 38, posted on Snapchat sharing sexually explicit images with thousands of people under the name ‘RossAlex’.

The teacher was alleged to have sent explicit images and messages between March and May 2023 and in May a 16-year-old, who had received the images, used Snapchat Maps location data and online staff photos to identify the man. The child alerted the school which reported it to the police and dismissed Bullen after an investigation in October 2023.

The panel concluded, that while Bullen's conduct didn’t constitute "unacceptable professional conduct", it may bring the profession into disrepute. That decision was because the teenager involved was not a pupil at Priory Rise, the incident took place in his private life and there was no evidence his pupils were exposed to harm.

In his evidence Bullen admitted engaging in risky behaviour online by failing to verify ages or check names, describing himself as "stupid, reckless, foolish".

The teenager testified that he had told the teacher he was 15 in conversations, before six explicit images were sent.

However, because Bullen had blocked the teenager on Snapchat, message logs couldn’t be recovered by the police and the teacher didn’t provide investigators with the pin to access data on his phone, so the panel couldn’t prove Bullen knew the boy's age. Bullen insisted he would never knowingly message a child.

The panel concluded that a member of the public would be concerned that his behaviour led to explicit images of himself being sent to a minor.

Bullen testified he no longer shared such images, but the panel noted they didn’t have evidence of this and considered there was a potential risk of repetition.

The earliest Bullen can apply to have his teaching ban lifted is August 2028.