St Paul’s teacher charged with sex offences
Police sting ends with former head of science accused of trying to meet 13-year-old girl for sex
A FORMER teacher at one of the country’s leading boys’ schools has been charged with trying to meet a 13-yearold girl for sex.
Dr Ken Zetie, who taught at St Paul’s School for 17 years, is accused of attempting to arrange the liaison, which was part of an undercover police sting. The 51-year-old had been head of science and director of outreach and academic partnerships at the £38,000-a-year west London school.
Mark Bailey, high master of St Paul’s School, wrote to pupils and alumni this week to inform them of the accusations faced by Dr Zetie. The letter, seen by The Sunday Telegraph, says: “On Tuesday next week, Dr Zetie will appear in court charged with two offences, attempting to incite a female minor to engage in sexual activity and attempting to arrange the commission of a child sexual offence.”
Mr Bailey said that while the incident was “unrelated to any pupil at our school”, it nonetheless “has the potential to be unsettling and distressing”.
St Paul’s School, which educates boys aged seven to 18, is among the highest-performing for GCSEs and Alevels in the country. Founded in 1509, the school’s alumni include the poet John Milton, the political theorist Isaiah Berlin, and George Osborne, the former chancellor. Just before the de- tails of the alleged crime and police investigation came to light in February, Dr Zetie resigned from his post at the school.
Mr Bailey explained that he immediately informed staff, Dr Zetie’s current students and their parents of his resignation, but said that he was unable to share more information until now due to strict laws that protect the anonymity of teachers accused of a crime. The automatic anonymity is only lifted if the teacher is charged. “Immediately after this, we were contacted by Richmond Local Authority Designated Of- ficer (LADO) who informed us that Dr Zetie was under investigation for serious misconduct outside school.”
A Thames Valley police spokesman said: “Following an investigation by the South East Regional Organised Crime Unit, a man has been charged with two sexual offences against a child.
“Kendrick Zetie, aged 51, of Sutton Lane, Slough was charged yesterday (July 19) with one count of attempting to incite a child to engage in sexual activity and one count of attempting to arrange the commission of a child sexual offence. The offence took place on 15 February and Zetie was arrested on the same day.”
Dr Zetie is due to appear at Slough Magistrates’ Court on Tuesday.
Last year, the sister school of St Paul’s faced a string of sex allegations after its drama department asked alumnae to contribute towards a “real life” Edinburgh festival play on the subject. Two former pupils of St Paul’s Girls’ School made allegations about historic sexual abuse. Sarah Fletcher, high mistress at the school, wrote to alumnae to tell them that she had asked the LADO to carry out an inspection.