Primary School Sex Abuser Jailed Indefinitely

Nigel Leat, a former primary school teacher who filmed himself sexually abusing vulnerable girls as young as six in his classroom, has been jailed indefinitely.

Footage, taken by a purposely positioned camera, showed the 51-year-old molesting five girls over the course of five years at Hillside First School in Weston-super-Mare, Somerset.

Leat, labelled a "predatory paedophile", would abuse the girls when they were alone during reading practice and make them perform sex acts while speaking aloud, Bristol Crown Court heard.

According to police the paedophile identified "star pupils" and them shower them with gifts before abusing them in one-to-one reading sessions.

On the recovered footage Leat, who spent 15 years at the school, could be heard referring to the young girls as "sweetie pie" and "darling" and also asking them how much they loved him.

Your manipulation of the children was clever, cunning and insidious.

Judge Neil Ford QC to Nigel Leat

Most of Leat - a father of two - could be seen in the videos, which showed the girls were abused in the school's staffroom and a resource room.

In the films, which were up to 10 minutes long, Leat could be seen touching the girls, including when they were changing their clothes to go outside.

Leat, who also wrote letters asking them to perform sex acts on him, initially denied all the claims against him, but confessed after police found the films on his home computer.

After police arrested him on December 13 last year, they discovered about 30,500 indecent photographs and 720 indecent movies in his possession.

Bristol-based Leat admitted 36 offences, including attempted rape of a child and sexual assault on children.

Judge Neil Ford QC told Leat him he would have to serve at least eight-and-a-half years before he could be considered for parole.

He said: "Your manipulation of the children was clever, cunning and insidious.

"I am of the opinion you do represent a serious risk to young girls. These offences were carried out over a long period of time with great regularity.

"You have the ability to befriend young girls and persuade them to participate in sexual behaviour. You filmed most of your abuse for later gratification.

"You were in a position of authority and trust. In order to avoid detection you were careful not to upset the child.

The judge told Leat his actions had not only harmed the children, but had destroyed their parents' ability to trust.

"You carried out a catalogue of abuse at a place where children were expected to be wholly safe," he added.

Detective Superintendent Geoff Wessell of Avon and Somerset Police said: "Nigel Leat is a predatory paedophile of the most sickening order who has preyed on the children of his school and abused them in the most sick way.

"The abuse of trust, I have never come across anything as extreme as this. The sentence passed today on Nigel Leat is a reflection of the hideous crimes he committed."