Primary schoolteacher filmed himself abusing pupils

Married father-of-two groomed at least one girl a year and showered her with gifts A primary school teacher filmed himself sexually assaulting pupils as young as six in his classroom, sometimes when other children were present, a court has been told. Nigel Leat, 51, a married father-of-two, groomed at least one girl a year and showered her with gifts, afforded her privileges and organised one-on-one teaching sessions. Leat would swear his victims to secrecy and even write letters to them in which he would describe what he wanted to do to them and ask them to reply to him. Leat pleaded guilty to 36 counts involving five pupils aged between six and eight at Hillside First School in Weston-super-Mare, Somerset over five years. The offences included sexual assault, attempted rape, voyeurism and possessing extreme pornography. Police believe they could have charged him with as many as 500 offences and said he may have been offending for 12 years. Leat will be sentenced on Tuesday. The abuse went undetected at the school – where he taught for 15 years – until last December when one victim told her mother that he had been touching her. He was arrested within hours and officers found hundreds of films of his abuse stored on memory sticks in his classroom. Simon Morgan, prosecuting at Bristol crown court, detailed the content of more than 30 videos. In many of them children could be seen holding cuddly toys, drawing at a table or practising their reading while Leat filmed and touched them or they touched him. Leat was heard in films referring to the girls as “sweetie pie” and “darling” and asking them how much they loved him. Morgan said: “It is clear from … the videos that these children were well-versed in doing what was expected of them. “The children were abused in the classroom, in the resources room, in the staff room. He arranged the rooms in such as way as to avoid detection from anyone who looked into the room.” Leat’s offending was uncovered when a girl identified only as Child E took home a book called My Perfect Pony he had given her. Her mother became suspicious about the gift and asked whether Leat had touched her. Morgan told the court: “She said that he had touched her on every day apart from when the teaching assistant was in class.” Leat, a former musician, bird watcher and cyclist, qualified as a teacher in 1984 and has only taught at Hillside. He was warned in 2008 about being too “tactile” with the girls in his class by the deputy head, as staff were worried that it might leave him open to accusations of improper behaviour. No further action was taken. A parent once expressed concern after he asked a girl if she had a webcam so they could stay in touch after she left his classroom. The concerns were not passed on to the authorities. The court was told Leat became interested in images of child abuse on the internet 10 years ago when his marriage became “asexual”. He then began abusing girls in his classroom. Nicholas Gerasimidis, for Leat, said: “It might be said that had he not been in the position that he was that this interest may never have found an opportunity for expression.” After the hearing, Detective Superintendent Geoff Wessell said officers continued to work with his victims. “The court has heard the full extent of the behaviour of Nigel Leat in the most shocking detail,” he said. “It is quite clear that the court has heard how he is a predatory paedophile who has broken the trust and confidence of both the parents that sent children to the school and its staff.” Crime Child protection Primary schools Steven Morris guardian.co.uk

Posted by on June 10, 2011. Filed under News, Politics, World News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.