Juan Torrecillas-Molina

Introduction

Juan Torrecillas-Molina is a former teacher at St Anselm’s College on the Wirral who was banned from teaching for life in June 2025 after being convicted of making and possessing indecent images of children across a twelve-year period. A Teaching Regulation Agency panel found the convictions of relevant offences proved, and decision maker Cavey prohibited him from teaching indefinitely with no entitlement ever to apply for restoration. Torrecillas-Molina did not attend the hearing and was not represented; the case was decided on his convictions without a hearing.

Background Information

Torrecillas-Molina was employed as a teacher at St Anselm’s College, a boys’ secondary school on the Wirral. Between 2011 and 2023 he made indecent images of children and possessed indecent images. He came to police attention and was charged with three counts of making Category B images, three counts of making Category C images, one count of making a Category A image, and one count of possessing 42 indecent images. He pleaded guilty at Merseyside Magistrates’ Court on 27 February 2024 to all counts and was committed for sentence, appearing at Liverpool Crown Court on 26 March 2024, where he received a combination of custodial terms totalling 12 months, suspended for two years, along with a 10-year sexual harm prevention order and requirement to sign the sex offender register. The school’s employment relationship with him ended after the prosecution.

The Controversy or Incident That Led to Their Cancellation

Adjudicated vs. alleged. Torrecillas-Molina’s convictions were entered on his own guilty pleas at Merseyside Magistrates’ Court and are a matter of court record, certified to the panel. Nothing was contested at the regulatory stage.

The panel accepted the certificate of conviction as conclusive proof of both the convictions and the facts necessarily implied by them. The offending spanned 2011 to 2023 — the year of his arrest — and covered the full severity spectrum of indecent-image offending: Category A images, the most serious class, along with Category B and Category C material, plus possession of 42 images at the time of charge. The suspension of his 12-month custodial term at Liverpool Crown Court placed him under a two-year supervision window in the community, and the 10-year sexual harm prevention order restricted his contact with children and his digital life for a decade. The panel found all allegations proved and the convictions of relevant offences established, then went on to consider sanction.

Public Reaction and Consequences

No press coverage attaches to the case; the published decision is the public record. The consequences ran from the criminal courts through the regulator: the suspended sentence, the decade of preventive order and register requirements, and then the professional ban. The panel noted the serious nature of the offending — its duration across twelve years and the presence of Category A material — and the position of trust a teacher occupies. The decision maker concluded that a prohibition order was necessary to maintain public confidence in the profession, that allowing no review period was required, and that in view of the seriousness of the offences Torrecillas-Molina should not be entitled to apply for restoration of his eligibility to teach. The suspension of his prison term made no difference to the regulatory outcome.

Current Status

Torrecillas-Molina is prohibited from teaching indefinitely and cannot teach in any school, sixth form college, relevant youth accommodation or children’s home in England. Because the decision maker also removed his entitlement to apply for restoration, the ban has no review gate: he “shall not be entitled to apply for restoration of his eligibility to teach”. The determination is dated 16 June 2025, with the order dated 17 June 2025, effective from service. He retains a right of appeal to the King’s Bench Division of the High Court within 28 days of notice; the published record shows none was filed. His sexual harm prevention order and register requirements run for ten years from the March 2024 sentencing, independently of the teaching ban.

Impact on Their Career/Life

Torrecillas-Molina’s case follows the settled pattern for serving teachers convicted of indecent-image offending: whatever the disposition of the criminal court — here a suspended sentence rather than immediate custody — the regulator treats the conviction itself as ending the career, with Category A material and a multi-year offending period driving the no-review, no-restoration tier. The twelve-year span from 2011 to 2023 shows the offending long predated his referral, which the school and police uncovered only in its final year. For schools the case underlines that image-offence convictions reach the regulator automatically and leave no discretion: a guilty plea on all counts converts directly into a lifetime ban without a contested hearing.

Sources

• Dept for Education, “Teacher misconduct panel outcome: Mr Juan Torrecillas-Molina” — source