Teacher, 66, locked up for abusing girls
TEACHING ASSISTANT CAUGHT SEXUALLY ASSAULTING PUPILS AS YOUNG AS SEVEN
A PRIMARY school teaching assistant has been jailed for a string of sexual assaults against schoolgirls as young as seven.
William Brown, 66, was witnessed touching girls underneath their school dresses, and later found to have filmed himself touching them sexually.
The retired headteacher had been working as a teaching assistant at a primary school in Greater Manchester when his behaviour was revealed, Manchester Crown Court heard.
One dinner lady was said to turn white in colour, as she described seeing Brown place his hand up a girl’s dress, and rub her upper thigh near her ‘private area.’
Another teacher was disturbed after seeing Brown calling the girls ‘darling’ and ‘sweetheart,’ before stroking their arms and the backs of his legs.
The court heard that Brown would single out particular girls and isolated them from their friends, writing in one pupil’s homework book that she was his ‘special girl.’
He would then clear the classroom, sometimes closing the blinds, or take them to a quiet place and film them.
After police were called by the school, and Brown was arrested, searches revealed 57 pictures and 11 videos of three schoolgirls on his laptop.
Checks with the school headteacher revealed these were the same girls Brown had been witnessed grooming in school.
They showed the defendant picking up the girls and exposing their underwear, before moving their underwear and groping them on the bottom.
Investigations also revealed the defendant had searched for pornographic videos of girls in a school setting, wearing school uniform.
Brown, of Parkway, Bolton was jailed for six years after admitting 12 counts of sexual assault on a girl under the age of 13, one count of taking an indecent photograph and two counts of making an indecent photograph.
In a statement written by one of the victim’s mothers, she said the ordeal had left her struggling mentally after learning about what had happened to her daughter.
Prosecutor, Darren Preston told the court that first concerns were raised about Brown’s behaviour towards female pupils in July.
Brown initially denied the offences to police, saying he may have become familiar with the girls, but always stuck to professional boundaries.
He only admitted assaulting the girls after detectives uncovered the indecent images of the pupils’ on his laptop.
In mitigation, Robin Kitchin told the court that his client has evidenced his remorse by pleading guilty to the offences.
He said: “He found it very difficult to come to terms with why he behaved in the way he did. He has now begun that journey to understand and accept why he acted in the way he did.”
Sentencing, Judge Tania Griffiths QC said: “A primary school teacher, especially with children so young, is in a privileged and exalted position of trust.
“You were superficially co-operative in interview but tried to ‘play down’ your actions as careless over familiarity, rather than that of a sexual predator.
“However, the truth was laid bare when photos and recordings came to light on equipment seized on arrest.
“I suspect that as the children grow older and they appreciate more what was done to them that they will suffer further psychological harm and require support.”
Brown will serve half his sentence in custody before being considered for being released on license.
He was also ordered to sign the sex offenders’ register indefinitely and has been made subject to a sexual harm prevention order for 15 years.