A DEPUTY headteacher who quizzed two under-age schoolgirls about their sex lives has been convicted of making indecent remarks to children and placed on the sex offenders register.
Kenneth Boal, 55, was found guilty of two sexual offences with a sheriff telling him he had been “taking an unhealthy interest” in the two teenagers.
One of the girls gave evidence that Boal – who was in charge of child protection at a West Lothian secondary school – told her he was “getting excited” talking to her.
She said she heard him tell her: “I need to take a cold shower now.”
The student, who was 15 years old at the time, said Boal remarked that her partner was a lucky man and asked her sleazy questions including whether she was engaging in oral sex.
He also asked the girl’s classmates to rate her looks out of 10 and made inappropriate comments about her blouse being unbuttoned too far, a court heard.
Boal, of Stockbridge, in Edinburgh, was on trial at Livingston Sheriff Court accused of using lewd, indecent and libidinous practices towards the fourth-year youngster and another 14-year-old female pupil between 2006 and 2009. He had denied the charges.
Neither the girls nor the school can be identified for legal reasons.
Boal was suspended from his £55,000-a-year post on full pay when the offences came to light two-and-a-half years ago.
He now faces being sacked for gross misconduct, losing his generous local authority pension.
Boal’s conviction will also be notified to the General Teaching Council for Scotland which has the power to disqualify him, although disclosure laws mean he is unlikely to be able to work with children again.
Finding Boal guilty yesterday, Sheriff Peter Hammond said he found the evidence of both former pupils convincing and preferred their version of events over Boal’s testimony.
He said: “I am not convinced Mr Boal’s behaviour was due to naivety or misplaced zeal for his pastoral role. He was the head of child protection at the school and he was absolutely aware of the issues and the appropriate boundaries and routes for dealing with matters of that kind.”
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