Married father of two James ‘Jamie’ Richards, who was headteacher of Cadle Primary in Swansea, is accused of exposing himself to a number of colleagues
17:36, 24 Nov 2025Updated 21:03, 24 Nov 2025
‘Jamie’ Richards, who was headteacher of Cadle Primary in Swansea, is accused of exposing himself to a number of colleagues(Image: Google )
A married headteacher exposed his penis to a teacher and told her: “inspect this miss”, a professional standards panel was told. The alleged incident happened during a pupils’ residential trip, the Education Workforce Council Wales committee heard.
Getting tearful at times the teacher told how headteacher James “Jamie” Richards pulled out his flaccid penis when they were inspecting pupils’ rooms alone during a residential trip. Not long afterwards he exposed himself to her in his office at Cadle Primary telling her: “I love my wife and children but I just cannot help myself” before “laughing goofily”.
The teacher, named only as Colleague A to protect her identity, told the EWC panel, sitting virtually on November 24, that she had what she thought was a good professional working relationship with Richards before he exposed himself. Read the biggest stories in Wales first by signing up to our daily newsletter here.
Describing the first incident, she said Richards exposed himself to her while they were alone in a children’s room which they were inspecting one morning during a school residential trip with 30 pupils. Staff had been awarding prizes for the tidiest rooms.
“We did tidy room inspections. I went with James Richards to inspect and we had a clipboard each. James Richards was behind me and we went into two rooms.
“I had a sense he was behind me. However, I made a comment about how many marks (to give) when I turned around James Richards said “inspect this miss” and put his flaccid penis on the clipboard.”
She said he then “laughed in a goofy way” and she left the room “shocked and shaken”.
The teacher said she confided what had happened to a colleague later that day but then tried to bury the shocking incident, which she now regrets. He didn’t do anything inappropriate for the rest of the week but went on to expose himself again and make sexual remarks later, the panel heard.
Two months after the alleged incident on the school trip in June 2012, Colleague A said she went into Cadle Primary School during the summer holidays in August that year to prepare her classroom for the new term.
When she knocked on the headteacher’s door Richards told her to come in and exposed himself to her again, she claimed.
“I knocked on the door and when I entered James Richards was there with his flaccid penis with a pair of glasses over it in disguise. He said: “I love my wife and children but I just cannot help myself”. I believe he laughed and I walked out.”
The teacher became upset giving evidence saying that Richards went on to make sexualised comments to her when term began and would always ” laugh in a goofy way afterwards”.
She said he never apologised for, or acknowledged, his behaviour but she felt his remarks about his wife and children indicated he knew it was not right.
In the years that followed, a series of other complaints were made against Richards including that he asked another member of staff to compare her breasts to his wife’s breasts and/or that he exposed himself again and showed a phone photo of his penis to a colleague.
On one occasion police interviewed a member of staff about their complaint against Richards but did not interview the headteacher or take any action, the panel heard.
Nearly a decade after he exposed himself to her on the school trip, Colleague A told the hearing that she went into school in September 2021 to learn that Richards had been escorted off the premises and an investigation into his behaviour had been launched after complaints from another member of staff.
She said she then decided to tell the chair of governors about his behaviour towards her years before. She regretted not raising it earlier, especially as it was alleged the headteacher had gone on to expose himself to others.
Colleague A said she had not come forward previously for fear of not being believed or losing the career she’d worked hard for. She said she had liked Richards and found him friendly and likeable before he had exposed himself to her and knew he was “a family man”.
“He was a family man with two children and a wife and came across as a devoted family man and approachable head, that’s how he portrayed himself,” she told the hearing.
The panel also heard allegations that Richards, who was described as “jokey” and “quite jovial” at work, went on to expose himself to another colleague at a virtual meeting during the pandemic.
EWC presenting officer Sara Lewis said that there had also been complaints years earlier from another member of staff. Police had spoken to Colleague E in 2015, following up complaints, but decided not to interview the headteacher himself or take any action after that. No criminal charges have been brought against Richards to date, Ms Lewis told the panel.
But during the internal investigation in 2021, Colleague A and others had come forward claiming Richards had also exposed himself to them on the school premises and on at least one occasion during the school day. The matters were eventually reported to the EWC Wales as the professional registering body for education staff.
Ms Lewis said Richards, who was not present or represented at the hearing did not engage fully with the school internal investigation in 2021 and had refused to be interviewed citing health problems.
A Swansea Council fraud team had been called in to investigate and filmed the headteacher playing golf when he was on sick leave claiming cognitive and physical issues. The footage was shown during the hearing and showed the headteacher striding across a golf course with a caddy and taking swings with his golf club. He appears fit and healthy in the video.
Richards was formally suspended from his post on September 13 2021 and dismissed in 2024.
All of the allegations are taken as denied by Richards as he was not present and not represented at the hearing and has not responded to the EWC, the committee was told.
James Richards faces the following allegations at the EWC professional standards hearing:
1. In or around June 2012 and/or August 2012, on one or more occasions, he exposed his penis to Colleague A;
2. In or around April 2013, he exposed his penis to Colleague B;
3. In or around June and July 2013, in relation to Colleague C, he:
a) asked to compare Colleague C’s breasts to his wife’s breasts; and/or
b) showed Colleague C a picture on your phone of his penis;
4. In or around July 2021 he shared images of an erect penis on the screen whilst Colleague D was
present;
5. Between around 12 October 2020 and 4 November 2020, he showed Colleague E photographs and/or
videos of his penis;
6. In or around September 2021, he did not return a work laptop to the school despite a request to hand
over all work IT equipment;
7. In or around June 2023, he caused or allowed inaccurate and/or misleading information to be provided
to the Local Authority about his health;
8. His conduct at paragraphs one to five above was:
a) sexual in nature; and/or
b) sexually motivated;
9. His conduct at paragraphs six and/or seven above was:
a) dishonest; and/or b) demonstrates a lack of integrity.
10. The facts of paragraphs one to nine amount to unacceptable professional conduct when considered:
a) individually; and/or b) together
The hearing continues.
Get daily breaking news updates on your phone by joining our WhatsApp community here. We occasionally treat members to special offers, promotions and ads from us and our partners. See our Privacy Notice