Locations
Cromford Road, Wirksworth, Matlock, Derbyshire, DE4
Description
A teaching assistant sent teenagers at the school where he worked a ‘sex questionnaire’ asking their bra sizes and whether they were virgins.
Kevin Doxey, who worked at Anthony Gell School in Wirksworth, Derbyshire, admitted four counts of engaging in sexual communication with a child at Derby Crown Court.
The 27-year-old had sent a picture of his genitals to one of the victims, alongside a winking emoji and message saying ‘I wish you were here’.
One of his victims told her parents about what he had sent her and they contacted the police, which led them to seize his phone and found more messages to other young girls.
Laura Blackband, prosecuting, said: ‘He obtained the Snapchat details of four girls who were all students at the school and sent a series of sexually charged messages to each of them.
‘The communication included a “sex questionnaire” which had a huge number of questions on them which we say could have led to possible sexual activity.
‘[Victim one] was 15 and she was very distressed by the questions. He would ask her to pick a number and would get her to answer the questions.
‘She initially said no but when she was on a sleepover he texted her a [sexually explicit] photograph of himself with a winking emoji and three kisses.
‘She showed it to one of her friends and she said, “You need to tell someone about it.”‘
Three more victims were identified by police and said they were sent Doxey’s ‘sex questionnaire’.
Ms Blackband said a second victim told of how Doxey asked her ‘weird stuff’ over Snapchat, like asking if he could come and pick her up in his car and whether she was a virgin.
Another girl said she had been sent ‘inappropriate’ Instagram messages by Doxey.
Ms Blackband added: ‘In the questionnaire, he asked questions such as her bra size and “what do you wear in bed?”
‘She said she didn’t want to answer any of the questions but he replied, “You have to.”‘
The final victim ignored the questionnaire but the defendant was said to have ‘badgered’ her, asking: ‘Are you going to answer them?’
Doxey was initially suspended from the school and then left, and was said to have gone to work in a supermarket.
Two of his four victims, supported by their families, bravely read their victim impact statements to the court.
One said: ‘I was at school, a place where I felt safe and confident and all of that was taken away from me by a person in authority. I was a child, he was an adult, a teacher.’
Another victim revealed she tried to take her own life, adding: ‘Kevin was one of the main causes of this.
‘I recently saw him in Morrisons in Belper, I did not know he was working there and it brought back memories and I had to leave the store.’
One of the remaining two statements, which Ms Blackband read out, said: ‘I was only a child at the time, when I look back now it was shocking.’
The other said: ‘School was meant to be a safe place but Kevin took that away from me.’
Doxey told the police the explicit photograph was sent to his girlfriend, but ‘the police looked at thousands of messages between them and not one was of a sexual nature’.
Mitigating, Dan Scothern said Doxey now works for a company called Clear Group.
He said: ‘In his words, “I understand what I have done and the huge amount of damage I have caused not just to the victims but to their families and my family.”
‘He says, “If I could go back and change everything I would.”‘
Jailing Doxey for two years on Friday, Recorder Graham Huston said: ‘I have to deal with you as a persistent sexual predator who used his position of trust to exploit their vulnerabilities.
‘You have messed with the minds of these young women and you knew what you were doing was unlawful because you had undergone full safeguarding training.
‘I consider the witness statements and the victim personal statements of each complainant very carefully. You caused real harm to each one of them.’
Doxey, of Cromford Road in Wirksworth, will also be on the sex offender register for 10 years and was given a 10-year sexual harm prevention order.
Metro has contacted Anthony Gell school for comment.