INNOCENT TEACHER WHOSE LIFE HAS BEEN LEFT IN TATTERS
It took a jury just 26 minutes to clear Kato Harris of raping a pupil at an £18,000-a-year private school and left many wondering why charges were even brought in the first place
THE moment he was falsely accused of rape will forever be etched on the mind of Kato Harris. When police officers arrived to arrest the brilliant teacher everything he had strived for came crashing down.
For almost two years the allegations by a former “troubled and unhappy” pupil, who claimed she was repeatedly attacked in a classroom, hung over the 37-yearold. Now his ordeal is finally over. Earlier this week Mr Harris was exonerated of any wrongdoing. A jury took a mere 26 minutes to clear him of all charges, prompting him to sink to his knees and weep with relief.
The verdict paves the way for Mr Harris, who is suspended but has ambitions to become a head teacher, to rebuild his career.
However there are doubts over whether charges should ever have been brought and questions over the handling of the investigation. His accuser, who was 14 years old at the time, claimed she was raped three times at the £18,000-ayear private girls’ school where Mr Harris was a highly-respected geography teacher.
The attacks were alleged to have happened on Mondays over three consecutive months in 2013 but did not come to light until a year later. By then the girl was at a new school where she struggled to settle. When a housemistress asked the teenager to write down what was wrong, she scribbled, “I was raped.”
It was not until much later, after the girl began seeing a psychiatrist, that she eventually named Mr Harris, but those three words began a chain of events that led to an innocent man standing in the dock at Isleworth Crown Court, west London.
“It was a normal school day,” the girl told police. “Then I was going down the corridor and he asked to see me and said that he wanted to talk to me. We went into the class and it was all very sudden. It was very quick. He raped me.”
The girl described how she was frozen with fear as her imagined incident took place. Afterwards the pupil, who did not confide in anyone or check for injuries, said she ran to the toilet. Two more rapes followed, it was alleged.
Mr Harris suffered the indignity of being arrested at his workplace. By then he had moved to become deputy head at another leading private school. None of the allegations related to his new school in Berkshire.
He protested his innocence, making it clear that he had complied with strict school rules that ban teachers from being alone with pupils. The door of the classroom in which the rapes were alleged to have happened was always wedged open at lunch times and had a glass panel. Additionally, the room was in a busy corridor that was frequently patrolled by other staff. In short, the rapes were “impossible”, the court heard.
MR HARRIS, from Richmond, west London, told police: “I can’t imagine doing something so abusive, so unspeakable, especially to a child.”
Asked if there was any possible motive for the girl making up the allegations Mr Harris said it may have been an act of revenge after he lightheartedly mocked her “silly face” in a school photo, causing her to be teased by other pupils. He said he barely knew the schoolgirl, who was not in one of his classes.
The allegations shocked family, former pupils and colleagues alike.
Mr Harris was considered a rising star in the profession. A graduate of Exeter University, he entered teaching in 2001. His first job was at Alleyn’s, a private school in south London where he was also educated.
Giving evidence Mr Harris’s former head teacher said: “He was outstanding. Pupils adored his lessons. If I were still a head teacher I would employ him in a heartbeat.”
Former pupils were equally enthusiastic, with one describing him as “inspirational”, while another said “he is amazing and makes geography fun”.
Four years later he became head of geography and assistant head at the school where the rape allegations were made. His specialist subject is the study of glaciers and he has organised many trips to Iceland.
Mr Harris is divorced from his wife, investigative journalist Heidi Blake. He has a child with a new partner, who was pregnant at the time of his arrest in 2014.
As for the girl, it can now be revealed that she comes from a very wealthy family and divides her time between a £7million London property and a country home. Her father works in finance. It has emerged that after the initial allegations were made she flew to New York for weekly sessions with a psychiatrist. It was during these regular visits that Mr Harris was named as her alleged assailant.
The girl, who is said to be highly strung, also claimed to have been the victim of bullying at school and accused teachers of being rude.
When she moved schools, teachers became concerned about her unhappiness. It has also emerged that she suffered panic attacks and consulted a hypnotist.
DURING the police investigation she refused to allow detectives full access to her social media accounts. However perhaps the most worrying aspect of the case is the role of a private investigator. Sue Akers, who worked for the Metropolitan Police and rose to become deputy assistant commissioner, was hired to delve into the background of the case. She was brought in to work with the girl’s family by law firm Mishcon de Reya, which handled Princess Diana’s divorce.
Questions are being asked about the precise nature of her involvement including the relationship between Ms Akers, who retired from the force in WORRYING ASPECT: Ex-deputy assistant police commissioner Sue Akers, right, now a private investigator, held ‘meetings with serving officers’ 2012 after detectives.
William Clegg QC, defending, told the court that Ms Akers had held a “number of meetings with serving officers about the case” and had sought access to court papers. Ms Akers also met the girl twice during the period in which she was being interviewed by police.
Ms Akers said after the case: “I was there to advise the family on police investigations.”
The Met Police, which carried out the investigation, refused to comment but Mr Harris spoke of the stress the case has caused. He thanked former colleagues and pupils for the hundreds of messages of support he received.
Despite his ordeal he expressed a desire that the “extraordinary case” did not deter people who believe they have been the victims of sexual violence from coming forward. But the devastating impact on his life was obvious as he added: “There is a beautiful world out there and for years, and senior 20 months I’ve been terrified of it and I’ve been hiding from it.”
A study by the Association of Teachers and Lecturers last year showed that more than one-in-five school and college staff surveyed had been the target of a false allegation by a pupil.
It is claimed that innocent teachers are quitting the profession because they cannot cope with the stigma, despite being cleared of any wrongdoing. And that the number of unfounded allegations is rising. “Even if the allegation is shown to be false it leaves a lasting scar,” says David Guiterman, ATL branch secretary in Cornwall.
Mr Harris, who takes medication for anxiety, said he always had faith in British justice and was delighted to be a free man. However the shadow cast by the nightmarish events leaves those closest to him doubting whether he will ever fully be able to put them in the past.