A private school teacher admitted to using his cellphone to covertly observe a female colleague in a women’s-only shower area and was this week compelled to sign the Sex Offenders’ Register and perform 200 hours of community service.
Christopher Arnold, a 37-year-old teacher of computer science who made $22,000 a year at the south-west London school Hampton School, also served in a pastoral capacity by taking care of the children.
At Wimbledon Magistrates’ Court, he admitted that on March 23, 2018, he had watched the female teacher perform a private act with the intent to gratify his sexual desires.
He is no longer employed by the 500-year-old institution, whose notable past students include rower Jonny Searle, former Home Secretary Kenneth Baker, and guitarist Brian May of the band Queen.
While on a “relationship break” from his partner, who is also a teacher at the same school, Arnold, of Dyas Road, Sunbury-on-Thames, is now receiving Jobseeker’s Allowance and residing with his mother.
Prior to the start of the school day, the event took place at Hampton Boys School in the female-only shower room that is connected to the gym.
The complainant was getting dressed in the shower room at 8:10 am and was seated on a bench facing the door, which has three clear window holes, according to prosecutor Adam Cooper.
She shouted while still partially dressed, thinking it was a student holding a black smart phone against the window, and raced out into the hallway where she eventually discovered the defendant.
On the day of the crime, Arnold was questioned by police and acknowledged making the recording.
By the time the police looked, neither the phone nor any of his other devices, including computers, contained any recordings of his fellow teacher.
The teacher’s victim impact statement stated, “This occurrence left me very shaken and shocked.”
It is a terrible thing that it occurred, and the fact that a coworker carried it out makes it even more intrusive.
“He has expressed tremendous regret from the beginning and is seeking and attempting to get to the bottom for the reason for the offence,” Sunvir Kaur, Arnold’s attorney, told the court.
He noted that after the “spur of the moment” occurrence, Arnold has sought assistance and, when questioned by the victim, has quickly admitted to photographing her.
He continued, “Mr. Arnold was in a crisis when he did the deed. He felt ashamed and had realised what he had done.
Mr. Arnold claims he was stressed out. He had been attending the school for ten years, but this term had been particularly challenging, and as a coping mechanism, he had turned to pornography to ease his symptoms.
He also began serving in a new pastoral capacity at the school, which added to his already heavy workload.
He had an excellent reputation up until that morning, but there will also be a hearing by the Teaching Regulation Agency, and it’s likely that he will be barred, Kaur continued.
In court, Arnold had support from his mother and his boyfriend.
The offence was “so serious a jail sentence could have been issued,” Magistrate Timothy Keay told the court, but the court chose a community order instead.
Arnold is now had to perform 200 hours of community service, sign a five-year Sex Offenders’ Register, pay £85 in costs, and pay a £395 victim surcharge.
The court also mandated that he complete a Probation Service-recommended activity requirement of up to 30 days and thirty sessions of the Horizon sex offenders’ programme.