Record details
A former Essex headteacher, Lee Brumby, has been jailed for 16 years for repeated sexual abuse of a young girl, including raping a child.
Brumby, 64, of Wellands, Witham, was sentenced at Basildon Crown Court on September 19, with one year on extended licence. He will not be eligible for parole until 10 years and 8 months into his sentence.
He was convicted in August of two counts of raping a child, one count of indecency with a child, and two counts of engaging in sexual activity in the presence of a child. The offences occurred against the same victim, starting when she was around five or six and continuing until she was around 9 to 11.
The victim described Brumby first abusing her by making her play a game where she was a waitress and had to obey his sexual orders, followed by a sustained period of abuse. She said the couple had sex in front of her on several occasions.
His ex-wife, Elaine Cotton, 62, of Kiln Road, Great Wakering, admitted to police that the victim was telling the truth but claimed Brumby, her coercive and controlling husband, forced her into it. "It wasn’t my choice," she said, adding she was "mortified" and "disgusted," left in tears. "I hated my husband with a passion. I didn’t know what to do... I just decided it was easier just to keep quiet."
Cotton, who stood trial alongside Brumby, was acquitted after her accounts to police and in court. Brumby denied everything, even after her admissions, responding in his police interview: "I dispute that 100%. That makes me sound like a weirdo." He suggested the victim was mentally ill, a claim Judge Richard Conley said was unsupported by evidence.
In her victim impact statement read to the court, she said the offences continue to haunt her: "I live with constant fear. I suffer from night terrors that wake me up in the middle of the night, leaving me shaking, panicked and unable to go back to sleep. Because of this, I am always tired, drained and never truly rested."
"Since I first disclosed the awful crimes committed against me... my life has not been the same," she added. "I feel trapped in my own home, unable to open my front door without checking my security cameras first, and when I'm home alone I can't relax unless I have double locked all the doors. I struggle to build genuine new relationships because I don't want to fully open up about my past. I feel myself having to lie."
She said her job was affected by the legal proceedings, which spanned two trials (the first in November 2024 aborted due to Brumby's barrister's wife's death). "I feel my whole life has been put on pause because of the trials. It feels like I can't fully live my life. I always imagined becoming a parent one day but now I question whether I could bring a child into the world when I feel this unsafe. I would worry constantly about the safety of my children. This experience has taken away my peace, my sleep, my confidence and my sense of safety. It has affected my daily life, my relationships and even my sense of safety... I don't know when or if I will ever truly feel safe again."
Judge Conley noted Brumby was "a respectable and well-respected pillar of the community," so "it must have come as an enormous shock to learn what it was you were doing, hiding in plain sight." He added: "No doubt, the pupils and the parents of the pupils who attended the schools at which you were a teacher and a headteacher will be aghast when they learn, if they haven't already learned, about the kind of man in whose charge they placed their children."
"You continue to deny these offences," the judge said. "Not only have you not shown any remorse for any admitted behaviour, you have appeared throughout to seem cold and unfeeling." He called Brumby "a deeply selfish man" who abused his "extremely young and vulnerable" victim out of "a selfish desire to satisfy your own sexual needs and wants," causing her "severe psychological harm." "Your behaviour to the victim in her youth and during your 40s has left a trail of devastation in its wake."
Defence barrister Peter Rouch KC advanced no admissions of guilt or remorse, saying Brumby had the "full support" of his family and new wife's family. Seven supporters, including his new wife, were in the public gallery. Rouch said there was no evidence of planning or grooming, nor that the victim was "particularly vulnerable" in law, and disputed "sustained abuse," calling the incidents "isolated, sporadic."
Prosecutor David Baird described a "sustained period of abuse" after the first incident.
Brumby showed no emotion during sentencing.
