York Teacher Who Filmed Children Jailed

17 September 2013, 12:37 | Updated: 30 March 2016, 13:50

A York primary school teacher who filmed children as they changed for swimming lessons has been jailed for six months.

The judge said he was confident 32 year old Richard Oldham, was "man enough" to wrestle his demons as he passed sentence at Leeds Crown Court.

Oldham admitted taking the footage on his mobile phone when he was a teacher in York.

He also admitted touching two pupils inappropriately and possessing hundreds of indecent images of children on his computer.

The judge told Oldham the six-month sentence “for you will be a very severe punishment''.

Judge Jameson said he was particularly concerned about the filming at the swimming baths.

He said many of the children featured might never be identified and many people in York will wonder whether Oldham possessed images of them.

"This is a crime that's likely to have continuing consequences for very many people,'' the judge said.

Aisha Wadoodi, prosecuting, said Oldham's offending spanned eight years.

She said it was uncovered in September last year after a 10-year-old boy complained that the teacher touched him during a lesson.

After Oldham was arrested, police found computer equipment at his home, which contained more than 2,000 indecent images of children. Although most were at the lower levels, some of the images were level four, which the judge described as ``the rape of children''.

Judge Jameson imposed a Sexual Offences Prevention Order and ordered Oldham to sign the Sex Offenders Register for 10 years.

He was banned for life from working with children.