Indecent images teacher Geoffrey Bettley cleared to work in schools 6 June 2013 Last updated at 08:12 A religious education teacher sacked for possessing indecent images of children should be allowed to return to work in schools, a panel has ruled. Geoffrey Bettley, 36, was suspended from a West Yorkshire school in December 2010 after police found nearly 200 child abuse images on his computer. He accepted a police caution and was dismissed by the school. A professional conduct panel has now ruled the teacher does not "represent a risk to children or young people." In its judgement, the National College of Teaching and Leadership panel said the images viewed by Mr Bettley were "not at the most serious end" of the scale used to categorise the severity of images of child sex abuse. His behaviour did not show a "deep-seated attitude which leads to harmful behaviour," it ruled. Sex offenders register Peter Saunders, chief executive of the National Association for People Abused in Childhood, said Mr Bettley should "absolutely not" be allowed to teach again. He said: "He didn't just access these once, he was accessing it for two or three years." Mr Saunders said even in so-called "low level" images, the children pictured were still victims of abuse. "So I am very, very unconvinced that a reference to these things being only low level is somehow mitigation against sanctions that should prevent this man from ever going near our children in a classroom again," he said. Mr Bettley was employed as an RE teacher at St Mary's Catholic School in Menston, from September 2001 to December 2011. He visited a website in March 2009 where he viewed six child abuse images, according to the panel's ruling. Case examined When his computer was seized by the police in December 2010, 143 images were found at level one of the Copine scale, the least severe on a scale of one to 10. A further 46 images considered to be at level three were found but had not been opened, the panel said. Mr Bettley was cautioned for the offence of possessing an indecent photograph or pseudo-photograph of a child and placed on the sex offenders register for two years, according to the ruling. A report from Leeds Children and Young Peoples Social Care in September 2011 had also concluded that Mr Bettley posed little risk, the panel added. A Department for Education spokeswoman said: "We keep the process under review because of legal complexities and we are examining whether this case was handled correctly."