East Dulwich: Primary school teacher jailed for child abuse

A former deputy head teacher at a school Prince George and Princess Charlotte attended has been jailed for child sexual abuse offences.

Matthew Smith, 35, from East Dulwich in south-east London, paid £65,000 for two teenagers in India to abuse younger children.

Smith, who was arrested by the National Crime Agency (NCA) in November 2022, pleaded guilty to 22 counts.

He was sentenced at Southwark Crown Court on Wednesday to 12 years in jail.

Smith was caught just a few months after he had been appointed deputy head of pastoral care at Thomas's prep school in Battersea - a school George and Charlotte attended until their move to Lambrook School in Windsor in September last year.

A spokesman for Thomas's Battersea said: "We have been shocked and appalled beyond measure by this matter and are grateful for the work of the police and courts in bringing this man to account.

"Mr Smith's employment at the school, which commenced in September 2022, was terminated with immediate effect when the school first learned of the charges against him in November.

"While the National Crime Agency has confirmed that none of the matters under investigation related to the school or its pupils, these deplorable actions constitute an unforgivable breach of trust and our thoughts are with those who have been impacted or damaged by them."

Smith was online at the time of his arrest speaking to a teenage boy living in India, the NCA said. He was asking the boy to send sexual images of a younger child in return for money.

Officers recovered more than 120,000 indecent images of children which he had saved on a laptop, SD card and on his phone.

For the majority of his offending, Smith was living in Nepal, working at a school, and also spent various periods working in orphanages and NGOs across India between 2007 and 2014.

He moved back to the UK in July 2022 and began working at Thomas's Battersea in September, the NCA said.

Smith posted an online advert looking to secure a flat share, saying he was a primary school teacher and could assist with childcare, but was arrested before he could be taken up on his offer.

The NCA said there was no evidence to suggest Smith committed offences against children based in Nepal or the UK.

Smith pleaded guilty to 22 counts, including encouraging the rape of a child under 13, causing a child under 13 to engage in sexual activity, and arranging the sexual abuse of a child.

He is also subject to an indefinite sexual harm prevention order and has been placed on the sex offenders register for life.

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