Steven William Spong

Introduction

Steven William Spong is a former classroom teacher at Monkwick Junior School in Colchester who was banned from teaching indefinitely in July 2025 after admitting possessing and uploading indecent images of children. A Teaching Regulation Agency (TRA) panel found that between 11 March and 7 April 2022 Spong was in possession of indecent images of children and uploaded them to the internet, and that his conduct was sexually motivated. He admitted every allegation in a signed statement of agreed facts. Essex Police had arrested him in July 2022, and although no criminal charges were ever brought, the regulator prohibited him from teaching for life, with no review of the ban and no right to apply for restoration.

Background Information

Spong was born on 6 January 1995 and joined Monkwick Junior School as a classroom teacher on 12 July 2021. His employment there ended not long after his arrest: the school dismissed him on 17 October 2022 on the grounds of “some other substantial reason” — the breach of trust and confidence between him and the school following the arrest. The matter was referred to the TRA on 11 January 2023. By the time the regulator’s proceedings were formally under way, Spong had signed a statement of agreed facts, dated 7 August 2024, admitting the allegations and admitting that they amounted to unacceptable professional conduct and conduct that may bring the profession into disrepute.

The Controversy or Incident That Led to Their Cancellation

Admitted in a signed statement of agreed facts; considered without a hearing. Spong admitted all of the allegations in a statement of agreed facts signed on 7 August 2024 and asked for the case to be dealt with without a hearing. A TRA panel considered the case at a private meeting on 3 July 2025, with no presenting officer and no attendance by Spong. No criminal charges were ever brought against him.

The case began with a police investigation rather than a complaint from the school. On 15 July 2022, Spong was arrested by Essex Police on suspicion of distributing indecent images of children. The force’s Police Online Investigation Team had identified his home IP address as the source of uploads of several indecent images and videos — featuring females between the ages of 6 and 13 — to the internet via two KIK accounts. The school then opened disciplinary proceedings that ended in his dismissal that October.

The panel found the first two allegations proved: that between 11 March and 7 April 2022 Spong was in possession of indecent images of children, and that in the same window he uploaded indecent images of children to the internet. The crime report before the panel showed the images and videos downloaded and uploaded included one category A image, nine category A videos, one category B image, two category B videos, two category C images and one category C video — category A being the most serious classification of indecent material involving children.

The third allegation concerned what he had searched for. Spong admitted searching the internet for pornographic content using the terms “Japanese teenagers” or “Japanese Schoolgirls” and “Jailbait”, and admitted that those terms indicated a pornographic image of a person who would look under 18; in his police interview he said he may have searched “jailbait” and knew what the term meant. The fourth allegation — that the conduct was sexually motivated — was likewise admitted: in the agreed facts Spong accepted that his conduct was in the pursuit of sexual gratification. The panel noted that he had denied any wrongdoing during the school’s disciplinary proceedings and during his police interview, and that no criminal action was taken; it found the allegations proved on the basis of admissions it described as “full and unequivocal”, supported by the police evidence.

Public Reaction and Consequences

On 2 February 2023, police confirmed that no criminal charges would be brought — in the criminal system’s eyes, his conduct did not amount to a criminal offence. The panel nonetheless noted communication between the police and the Local Authority Designated Officer which stated “due to the likelihood of risk to the children’s workforce, this matter is recorded as substantiated”. The gap between the two systems’ conclusions framed the whole case: no prosecution, but a teaching ban.

The panel found no mitigating factors. The aggravating features were that his actions were deliberate and repeated, that there was no evidence he acted under duress, that his conduct was a clear breach of the Teachers’ Standards raising serious public and child protection concerns, and that he had held a position of trust he fell significantly short of. Although the conduct took place outside the education setting, the panel found it directly relevant to his teaching role — not least because it occurred while he was a teacher at a primary school. It concluded his actions were “fundamentally incompatible with his being a teacher” and that public confidence in the profession could be seriously weakened if such conduct were not treated with the utmost seriousness.

Current Status

Spong is prohibited from teaching indefinitely. Decision maker Marc Cavey, acting on behalf of the Secretary of State, issued the prohibition order on 7 July 2025, endorsing the panel’s recommendation of no review period: the panel viewed the possession and uploading of category A material as on par with the behaviours in the regulator’s advice that militate against one, and, presented with no documentation from Spong, could not assess his insight or remorse or be satisfied the conduct would not be repeated. The order bars him from teaching in any school, sixth form college, relevant youth accommodation or children’s home in England, and he is not entitled to apply for restoration of his eligibility to teach. He had a right of appeal to the High Court within 28 days of being given notice of the order.

Impact on Their Career/Life

The ban ended a teaching career that had lasted barely sixteen months at a single school. The panel cast no doubt on Spong’s abilities as an educator, but concluded there was no strong public interest in retaining him in the profession given the nature of the findings. Because the prohibition order is indefinite, carries no review period, and leaves him unable even to apply for restoration, there is no route back to teaching in England on any date the order names — and the published decision in July 2025 means the findings follow him permanently, whatever work he takes up instead.

Sources

• Department for Education, “Teacher misconduct panel outcome: Mr Steven William Spong” — source