Neil Robinson is wanted by the Surrey police “in connection with the distribution of indecent images of children and the rape of a child,” according to BBC’s Crimewatch. This bit of info was posted to Reddit China by user gaiushe yesterday, who claims he has known Robinson for the past five years and is certain that he worked at an international school in Beijing.
That’s Beijing got in touch with gaiushe via direct messaging and confirmed that the school in question is Beijing World Youth Academy. Robinson’s online resume confirms that he worked at “Beijing World Youth academy High School as a Business teacher for years 10, 11 and 12.”
The school’s website also shows a teacher named Robinson was scheduled to chaperone a 15-day school trip to Denver, Colorado in January 2012. That’s Beijing got in touch with an organizer of that trip:
Li Meng, the organizer of the winter camp, told That’s that he is certain that Robinson worked at the school, and that he was indeed scheduled to be a ‘leader’ for the camp but “did not go.”
Afterwards, Li contacted us to retract his statement, saying “the guy left our school a long time ago, several years in fact… the information online [that he was a team leader on the Denver trip] is wrong… many of my colleagues have been asked about this. He is not our employee.”
A spokeswoman for the Beijing World Youth Academy told us she has been working at the school for six months and that there was “no one called Neil currently working at the school.
“If you want to speak to our manager… you’d better call back after May 6,” she added.
Neil Robinson’s online resume
Those who know of Robinson’s whereabouts — he is, again, wanted by British police for child rape — are advised to contact the Chaoyang District police at 85953400 or Surrey Police at (00 44) 01483 639 862.
Alleged British Paedophile is living in Beijing – and teaching? (That’s Beijing)
UPDATE, 4:56 pm: Matt Dalton has dug up a newsletter, dated October 2010, in which Robinson, a “pastoral principal,” addresses the parents of students attending Beijing World Youth Academy:
UPDATE, 4/25, 3 am: Uh… what? Via Beijing Kids:
Former students of Robinson report that he was a generally well-liked teacher who once joked that he was “writing a porn novel”.
UPDATE, 4/27, 12:26 pm: Robinson is now in custody in Beijing and awaiting transfer to UK authorities.
UPDATE, 1/15/14, 6:15 pm: He’s been sentenced to 12 years. Via BBC:
A man who was extradited to the UK from China has been jailed for 12 years for historical sex offences.
Neil Robinson, 47, formerly of Staines in Surrey, admitted three counts of sex with a girl under 13 and three indecent assaults at a previous hearing at Guildford Crown Court.
While schools don’t do any kind of check on a person’s references/qualifications to become a teacher, you are required to submit a background check to receive a work/residency visa, so either he was working there without a work visa or someone issued the visa without having all the required paperwork. So someone here broke the law and now it’s a game of finger-pointing and deniability instead of actually trying to find him before he finds another job around children.
I actually went to that high school, and during my time there I had a few wacky teachers…
I’m surprised there aren’t a lot more of this type of story. Are they covered up by Chinese media?
I mean China must be a paradise for kiddie fiddlers what with schools not bothering to even do basic checks on their teachers.
The kids are cute too.
You said it, Neil!
If you want to feel creeped out, read the section of the newsletter by Robinson subtitled “Discipline”:
“As Pastoral Principal, I am in charge of discipline. Most of my current crop of lunchtime detentions and other minor punishments have been for school uniform infringements, PE uniform infractions and lateness.”
Uggghhhhh.
To be employed by a legitimate international school a teacher needs to be certified. To be certified police clearance certificate is required in the home country. I guess he wasn’t working at an international school. Police clearance should be required by all schools; I presume that would apply to the locals too, but then again…
I suppose the govt here could always raise the legal age for minors from more than 15 years old, which in itself I find such a low age for legal sex disgraceful. Of course being such a moral country teachers would never pimp out their female students in Sichuan or a headmaster would never have sex with his middle school students, but then again…
To be employed by a legitimate international school a teacher needs to be certified. To be certified police clearance certificate is required in the home country. I guess he wasn’t working at an international school. Police clearance should be required by all schools; I presume that would apply to the locals too, but then again…
I suppose the govt here could always raise the legal age for minors from more than 15 years old, which in itself I find such a low age for legal sex disgraceful. Of course being such a moral country local teachers would never pimp out their female students in Sichuan or a headmaster would never have sex with his middle school students, but then again…