Teacher cleared of raping teen girl at top London school after being falsely accused warns men to avoid profession
A jury took just 26 minutes to clear highy respected Kato Harris last year
A FORMER teacher wrongly prosecuted for rape after a pupil’s rich parents pressured cops has told other men to avoid the profession.
A jury took just 26 minutes to clear highy respected Kato Harris last year - but is now jobless and broke and has vowed never to teach again.
The 37-year-old highly successful private school teacher has told how the witch-hunt ruined his life - and said it is just "not worth" a man qualifying as a teacher.
Mr Harris told the "I would certainly advocate that no man qualify as a teacher. It is just not worth it. What is the lesson here? There is nothing to protect the male teacher."
"I’ll never work with children again — I will never put myself in that position of vulnerability.”
The former head of geography at an £18,000-a-year all-girls London secondary school was accused of raping the pupil in a classroom during lunch breaks three times in 2013.
His 14-year-old accuser’s wealthy parents hired top law firm Mishcon de Reya, which then brought in ex-Met top cop Sue Akers as a private investigator.
Also on the payroll was Alison Levitt QC, a former principal adviser to the Crown Prosecution Service.
The pair previously worked on the failed Operation Elveden probe into journalist payments to public officials.
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Earlier this year, during a ruling on court costs, a judge criticised their role in the rape investigation.
Justice Martin Edmunds said the decision to charge Mr Harris with three rapes followed “enormous pressure”.
The dad of one, of Richmond, South West London, said: “If you have enough money, there are former senior members of the police and CPS who you can pay to improve your chances of securing a prosecution.
“What they did was legal. The system allowed them to do it.”
Despite being cleared Mr Harris lost his deputy head’s job. And the CPS is offering only £140,000 of his £183,000 legal bill.
The Met said a case review by Greater Manchester Police found there was no inappropriate access given to the girl’s representatives.
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