Jackanory storyteller abused boy

Court: Former teacher, 87, jailed for four years

A former Jackanory storyteller has been jailed for a series of sexual assaults on a young boy who was left with a “terrible burden of shame” for nearly 60 years.

John Earle, 87, who narrated two Jackanory stories in 1971 and presented programmes for youngsters in the 1960s and 1970s, was deputy head teacher at a school in Okehampton, Devon, when he carried out the attacks on Iain Peters, who was only nine when his ordeal began.

Now 69, Mr Peters has waived his right to anonymity to describe the lifetime of fear, shame and insecurity he has suffered since his school days.

The pensioner, who told the court in a victim impact statement that Earle’s actions left him with a distrust of authority, also said he wants to protect others from suffering as he did and called on society to work harder to prevent children from being abused.

His comments came after Earle, of Upton Lyne, Devon, was sentenced to four years in prison at Exeter Crown Court yesterday having pleaded guilty to six counts of indecent assault between 1957 and 1961 at an earlier hearing.

The court heard how Mr Peters, who lived with his parents in Kenya, was sent to Upcott House Preparatory School because his grandparents lived nearby.

Prosecutor Richard Crabb said: “Iain Peters was to tell police that discipline was strict and he found it a total contrast to his upbringing in Africa.

“After a while this defendant used to show favouritism towards him and used to pay him special attention.

“Nowadays it would be seen as grooming.”

Mr Crabb said the abuse started one night when Earle, who was the son of the school’s headmaster, came into Mr Peters’s dormitory and picked him up out of his bed and carried him to his own room in the school before touching his private parts and getting Mr Peters to masturbate him in turn.

Mr Peters told police the abuse occurred regularly, at least once a week during term-time.

In a victim statement which was read out in court by Mr Crabb, he said: “As a result of the crimes John Earle committed against me, I have felt extreme fear, shame and insecurity for 50 years.

“I put on an outward facade of bravado.”

Mr Peters said the offences had affected his education and his job prospects, adding that he had always carried out dangerous and low-paid jobs.

Earle, who started his television career on a show called Treasure House before working on the BBC children’s science programme Tom Tom, entered court using two walking sticks and used a hearing loop to listen to the case against him.

PREDATOR: John Earle, 87, was jailed at Exeter Crown Court for four years

Iain Peters, now 69, was preyed on at age nine