Teacher Andrew Duffell banned over boy sex act claims
A teacher accused of performing sex acts with a 14-year-old boy has been banned from the profession for life.
The National College for Teaching and Leadership found Andrew James Duffell, who taught at Easingwold School in North Yorkshire, guilty of unacceptable professional conduct.
Mr Duffell, 29, denied the allegations and Cleveland Police took no further action against him.
But the NCTL said his evidence was inconsistent.
The NCTL disciplinary panel heard from the boy, who was not a pupil at Easingwold, and his mother who reported Mr Duffell after allegedly finding sexual messages on her son's mobile phone.
It was claimed he befriended the boy on Facebook and in July 2012 drove the teenager to a secluded field near Stockton, Teesside, where the pair allegedly performed sex acts on each other.
Mr Duffell, an IT teacher at the school since 2009 and assistant principal in business and enterprise since 2011, did not attend the hearing but submitted written evidence denying the allegation.
The panel concluded Mr Duffell's evidence was inconsistent and found the statements of the boy and his mother to be more reliable.
During a police interview, Mr Duffell said he "only had a position of trust with pupils in his own school".
But the panel said as a teacher his responsibility lay with looking after all people under the age of 18 and his statement "demonstrated a seriously flawed and misconceived understanding" of his role.
After considering the report from the NCTL, Alan Meyrick from the secretary of state's office concluded Mr Duffell, who resigned in 2013, should be banned from teaching indefinitely.
He said: "The panel have found all the allegations proven (amounting) to unacceptable professional conduct that may bring the profession into disrepute.
"Mr Duffell has shown no remorse or insight into his behaviour."
North Yorkshire County Council said it followed all correct procedures after the allegations were made.