Man with criminal record cleared to teach

LONDON, Jan. 15 (UPI) -- A British teacher with a criminal record for indecent assault on a child is now teaching in Bournemouth, England.

William Gibson started an illicit relationship with a 15-year-old pupil at a Tyneside school where he taught more than 25 years ago. Gibson also served time in prison for fraud.

Despite his past -- and despite being rejected as unsuitable by three other schools in the past three years -- Gibson received permission to teach at Portchester secondary school from education secretary Ruth Kelly, The Sunday Times of London reports.

A letter sent to Gibson from the Department for Education and Skills on Jan. 31, 2005, and obtained by the Sunday Telegraph, stated that Kelly had decided, "not to bar or restrict" his employment as a teacher.

"I interviewed Gibson after he applied for a job and the checks came back on his criminal background," said James Newman, managing director of Step Teachers, a London teacher supply agency that recently took Gibson on. "My memory is that he had a letter from the Department for Education in support of his application."