Locations
North Street, Braunton, Devon, EX33
Description
A former headteacher from Devon has been jailed for vile historic sex offences against children.
Robin Mellor, 74, of North Street in Braunton, was convicted of sexually abusing two children during the 1970s and 1980s.
He used to work at several primary schools in Kent and would commit his depraved acts when his pupils would visit his home address in the town of Ditton for private tutoring sessions.
One 11-year-old girl was targeted repeatedly over a year-and-a-half period, where Mellor would show her pornographic images and force her to copy what was shown in those images, reports Kent Live.
He then assaulted a second girl during another tutoring lesson at his house, this time attempting to engage her in sexual activity and committing an indecent act in front of her.
It was not until January of last year that Mellor was arrested and charged with five counts of indecent assault on a child and a charge of inciting a child to commit an act of gross indecency.
Upon arrest, he was also charged with making indecent images of a child after 20 illegal images were discovered when officers seized his computer.
He pleaded not guilty to the charges and put his brave victims through the ordeal of a trial at Maidstone Crown Court. However, on Thursday (March 7), Mellor was convicted of all counts and and was sentenced to six years in prison.
He was also made the subject of a sexual harm prevention order and was put on the sex offenders' register indefinitely.
Detective Sergeant Rob Grieve said: "Robin Mellor grossly abused his position of trust as a teacher and tutor, in order to sexually abuse children
"Today’s sentence will not take away the emotional and physical trauma his victims were made to endure as children, but it will hopefully bring some closure.
"Mellor was a teacher at several primary schools in west Kent, in areas which included Ditton and Larkfield and we can’t discount the possibility he may have committed further offences which may not yet have been reported.
"I would like to thank the two victims in this case for their bravery in coming forward and bringing Mellor to justice.
"I do hope their courage empowers any other victims of sexual abuse to have the confidence to contact police.
"We will always treat victims with dignity and sensitivity and thoroughly investigate any offences."