A Bethnal Green teacher was struck off by a professional conduct panel for sharing child sex abuse images online and fantasising on pedophile forums.

Paul Rajasegaram, 35, who appeared on the BBC talent show The Voice in 2014, taught music at Oaklands School in Bethnal Green. He was arrested on school grounds in January 2018, and jailed for 27 months in May 2021.

Under the username ‘London_boylover69’, Rajasegaram distributed vile child abuse images, involving children as young as three, between June 2014 and March 2015.

He boasted “I teach kids” in a chat with other paedophiles, and spoke online about raping the young son of a celebrity.

During the investigation, a laptop was seized from Rajasegaram’s Marylebone home and found to contain indecent pictures and videos. Among the material was a video of an eight-year-old boy being raped.

He was found guilty in 2021 on two counts of distributing and three counts of producing child porn. The judge said: “What you were viewing, sharing and storing were images […] of real instances of horrific sexual abuse.”

Rajasegaram had sought to address his paedophilic tendencies through the Lucy Faithfull Foundation child protection charity. There is no suggestion he ever tried to act on his sexual interests.

After arrest, the National Crime Agency took pupils at Oaklands School through safeguarding checks, including two who Rajasegaram admitted online to finding “really cute”.

Last month, a Teaching Regulation Agency panel met to discuss Rajasegaram’s future in the profession. Rajasegaram requested the panel consider his case without a hearing.

The panel found that Rajasegaram’s conduct fell “significantly short of the standards expected of the profession”, and recommended indefinite prohibition to the Home Secretary. He will never teach again.