14th June 2010 9:00
By Blue Tutors
A recent court case in South East London has highlighted the dangers of home tuition if not properly monitored. As reported on the Telegraph’s website, Ugochukwu Okorie, 47, was employed as a private tutor in Camberwell, and has been convicted of multiple sexual assaults on his students.
Okorie has tutored in many countries around the world, and arrived in England in 1988 to train as a teacher. He worked for a government backed adult learning company called ‘In Training’, and was recommended to one of the victim’s mother by a church friend. The mother was concerned about her son falling behind with his maths, but was impressed by the tuition, and so asked Okorie to also tutor her younger daughters. Both girls were sexually assaulted, and the court case uncovered other incidents, including illegal material stored at Okorie’s home in Lewisham.
As a result of the conviction police have warned all parents to check a private tutor’s records records before asking them teach. However, it’s not clear in this situation whether a CRB Disclosure would have revealed anything untoward about Mr. Okorie; any criminal will commit a first offence, and no parent wants to risk that offence being on their child. In line with Blue Tutors guidelines, parents should place less importance on a CRB Disclosure, and more importance on following proper child safety practices. It’s inconceivable that a parent should leave any minor alone with an adult whom they barely know.