Convicted sex offender William Brown

Who is William Brown

Someone I know reached out to me in desperation last night. He had learned that the paedophile William Brown had taught at his daughters school, South Failsworth Primary School, on ‘many occasions’. I listened in disbelief at what he shared with me and a quick search on Google revealed a truly harrowing story. Like many people, I had completely missed it.

For those of you who are catching up with this latest case of a sex offender having access to children in Oldham, here is a quick recap of what we know so far.

• William Brown, aged 66, of Parkway, Bolton is a retired headteacher

• Following his retirement, he continued to work in schools as a teaching assistant. He was employed through at least one agency and it is understood he worked in multiple schools

• According to the Prosecutor, Darren Preston, concerns about Brown’s behaviour towards female pupils were first raised in July 2019 when this took place

A teacher approached the head of support to express concerns about the way the defendant had been acting in his class. He put it down to the defendant being old fashioned but the head of support felt she needed to speak directly with Mr Brown.

The court heard that before she had the chance to raise the matter, the support worker was approached by a dinner lady who had spotted Brown behaving inappropriately in the school canteen. She said she could see the defendant put his hands up her summer dress. Taking a second look she could see him rubbing the girls' upper thigh area near, what she described as, the girls' private parts. The dinner lady described seeing the child sitting stiffly, looking frightened.

She (unclear who ‘she’ is Teacher/support worker/Head of Support) went into his classroom and saw him sitting at the desk with one female child stood between the defendants legs, which were spread.

• Police said the member of staff immediately reported what she had seen and Brown was arrested at the school

• When questioned by detectives, Brown initially denied all knowledge of any offences, but following a search of his property a number of indecent images and videos were found on his phone and laptop

• Police found 57 pictures and 11 videos of three schoolgirls on his laptop including a film of Brown touching his victim(s) sexually.

• All 3 victims were from the school where Brown was arrested

• Although initially arrested in July 2019, Brown was not charged until 18th October 2019

• The youngest of Brown’s known victims was 7 years old

• He was sentenced to six years imprisonment after admitting 12 counts of sexual assault on a girl under the age of 13, one count of taking an indecent photograph and two counts of making an indecent photograph

There are multiple news stories that people can read to piece together the story. They include the BBC (here) and the Manchester Evening News (here) If you look hard enough, you can also find the original GMP report when he was first charged in webcache as the Goggle link has been removed (here).

Emerging Information

Since I posted sharing the story, a number of worried parents from South Failsworth School have contacted me regarding William Brown and their ongoing concerns. From what they have told me, I have been able to piece to together the following;

• William Brown worked through at least one agency. Post retirement, he would have worked in multiple schools across Greater Manchester

• One of the schools that Brown worked at was South Failsworth Primary School in Oldham where Bell even attended the Year 6 Leavers Party

• Whilst no date is given of when Brown was arrested, the information I have access to suggests that the Year 6 Leavers Party at South Failsworth Primary School was AFTER he had been arrested.

  Here is a picture that was shared with me of Brown at the Year 6 party. I’ve blanked out the faces of the children so that they cannot be identified. Those familiar with the school will no doubt recognise the school hall

The Response From South Failsworth School

After news of Brown’s conviction began to be reported in the press, parents understandably began to contact the school. Vicki Foy, South Failsworth Primary School’s Headteacher, in a message to a parent first claimed that the school only became aware of Brown’s activities ‘at the same time as you’. Ms Foy was quick to state that ‘Our school was not involved at all’.

The parent challenged Ms Foy’s assertion that South Failsworth School was not involved at all, especially as she had been quick to claim she did not have any prior knowledge of Brown’s crimes. Ms Foy clarifies her initial claim by now stating ‘What I meant by our school not being involved was the fact that our school was not involved in the police investigation that has led to him being jailed’.

Oldham Council has yet to issue a statement reassuring parents of South Failsworth Primary School or indeed any other school that Brown may have worked in.

Immediate Concerns

Since last night, multiple parents have independently contacted me asking if I would help to try and make sense of what is going on. As with previous cases involving Oldham Council, they have expressed fears of a cover up and feel that they are not being listened to and are being taken for fools. Rightly, they are concerned about their children and are seeking reassurance.

Having looked at the newspaper reports and the correspondence between parents and the school, I believe that there are a series of concerns that MUST be IMMEDIATELY addressed by Oldham Council Leader SEAN FIELDING, Superintendent Rebecca Boyce from Greater Manchester Police and Vicki Foy, Head Teacher of South Failsworth School. They are as follows

• Oldham Council MUST issue a comprehensive list of every school that the paedophile William Brown had access to children. This list should list should include the dates of each occasion that Brown worked in these schools. It is highly unlikely that a 66 year old Brown woke up in July 2019 and decided to become a paedophile. The likelihood is that the behaviour he exhibited that day was not unfamiliar to him

• The Police must issue a statement listing all the schools and various statutory agencies that they liaised with during the course of their investigations and confirm they are certain that Brown did not commit any crimes whilst he was working in them.

• I find it astonishing that the Police would not have been in contact with senior leaders of schools where Brown worked. Ms Foy must issue a statement clarifying what South Failsworth Primary School did and did not know. Surely she must also immediately arrange a full and open meeting with parents and concerned family members.

• Oldham Council and/or the Police clarify why and where between being arrested in July 2019 to being charged on the 18th October 2019, Brown continued to access children in schools.

My instincts are that these were not the only heinous crimes on innocent primary school children that William Brown committed. And as in all previous occasions, I remain utterly disgusted with the way in which working class parents concerns regarding the safeguarding of their children are brushed aside by the authorities. They have a right to answers.

Raja Miah MBE