A FORMER primary school deputy head teacher has been jailed after admitting making indecent images of children.

David Jenkins, 53, of Weston-super-Mare, has also pleaded guilty to possessing extreme pornography and causing or inciting a child to engage in or watch sexual activity.

Jenkins was today (Thursday) jailed for six years and six months when he appeared at Bristol Crown Court.

He will be on the sex offenders’ register indefinitely and is subject to an indefinite Sexual Harm Prevention Order.

The SHPO includes prohibitions on him having unsupervised contact with boys under 16 and loitering in the vicinity of any school, school playground or children’s club.

The officer in the case, DC David Cousins, said: “This is a case involving a man who was in a position of trust and authority as the deputy head of a school.

"His behaviour was predatory. He pretended to be a teenager to target boys at a vulnerable age, when they start to explore their sexuality.

"We’re grateful to his former school, whose staff and parents have been supportive and understanding throughout a lengthy investigation.

"We have not found evidence of offences against children personally known to Jenkins.

"None of the children in this case ever came into direct physical contact with him.”

The case came to light in July 2015, when the school suspended Jenkins after finding that he was in contact with former pupils on social media, in breach of school protocol.

An internal investigation found indecent images on his school laptop and the matter was reported to police in October that year.

Officers found almost 300 indecent images of children on this laptop, of which more than half were the most serious category.

Further forensic examination of the laptop showed that Jenkins had been in contact via Skype with boys under the age of 16 from across the country and that the exchanges had been sexual in nature.

Jenkins resigned his post and left teaching prior to his arrest in December 2015.

Further investigation identified three boys aged between 12 and 15 who confirmed they had been in online contact with ‘Gromit2508’, Jenkins’ username.

They said he had exposed himself to them, performed indecent acts and encouraged the boys to do the same.

In May 2018, following a thorough investigation, Jenkins was charged with:

  • three counts of making indecent images;
  • one of possessing extreme pornography;
  • seven of causing/inciting a child to engage in sexual activity;
  • six of causing a child to watch sexual activity/image of sexual activity.

Jenkins appeared in North Somerset Magistrates’ Court in June this year, when he was released on bail with conditions including not to have unsupervised contact with children, or to contact children online.

If you have been affected by this case, you can contact the investigation team by calling 101 and quoting reference 6407915.

Police are urging parents and carers to talk to their children about staying safe online.

There’s advice on having the conversation on the NSPCC website.