Teacher faces sack after '˜taking unhealthy interest' in teens

A SENIOR teacher 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 has had his name added to the sex offenders register after being convicted of making lurid remarks to teen girls. Picture; Vuc Rodrick

Finding deputy head Kenneth Boal, guilty of two sexual offences, a sheriff told 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. He inquired if she was having oral sex and demanded to know: “Do you enjoy it?”

He also asked the girl’s classmates to rate her looks out of ten and made inappropriate comments about her blouse being unbuttoned too far, showing her cleavage, and her skirt being too short.

Boal, 55, from Stockbridge, was on trial at Livingston Sheriff Court accused of using indecent practices towards the fourth-year youngster and another 14-year-old female pupil between 2006 and 2009. He had denied the charges.

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 from his post for gross misconduct.

The General Teaching Council for Scotland, which has the power to disqualify him, will also be notified, although disclosure laws mean he is unlikely to be able to work with children again.