A supply teacher has been jailed for eight-and-a-half years for sexually assaulting six girls at a North Yorkshire school.
Jonathan Philip Clayton, aged 27, from Stockton-on-Tees, was found guilty on all 13 sexual touching charges on February 4 following a trial at Teesside Crown Court.
At the sentencing today, Clayton also received an indefinite Sexual Harm Prevention Order and was placed on the Sex Offenders’ Register for life.
The offences were committed between March and May 2019 while Clayton was working as a supply teacher.
The brave victims, whose anonymity is protected by law, were aged between 7 and 11.
Detective Constable Gillian Gowling, the North Yorkshire Police officer who led the investigation, said: “Jonathan Clayton is a very manipulative individual who used his trusted position as a teacher to touch these very young and vulnerable girls for his own sexual gratification.
“He displayed an extremely worrying pattern of behaviour where he would take advantage of situations that arose at school to put his hands on the victims.
“This was usually when the youngsters were upset and he carried out the abuse under the guise of providing comforting. There were also occasions when he supposedly ‘helped’ the victims to put on or adjust items of clothing, including tights, when they clearly did not require such help.”
DC Gowling added: “Due to the young age of the victims involved, it has been a complex and sensitive investigation. I hope that the outcome at court will help these very brave girls and their families to move on from this terrible experience, safe in the knowledge that justice has been served against the man responsible and he will never be allowed to teach children again.”
Seeking help
Victims of child abuse – no matter when it occurred – are urged to seek help from the police and partner agencies.
Please contact North Yorkshire Police on 101.
If you are in immediate danger, always dial 999 for an emergency response.
Victims who would prefer not to go direct to the police and are not in immediate danger, can contact Bridge House, North Yorkshire’s Sexual Assault Referral Centre (SARC), on 0330 223 0362, email bridgehouse.sarc@nhs.net or go to www.bridgehousesarc.org/
You can also contact the Supporting Victims Unit direct at www.supportingvictims.org or call 01609 643100.
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