Description
A former teacher who kept a "paedophile manual" has been jailed after a colleague reported concerns after seeing inappropriate images on his laptop.
Jamie Alexander Wheeler, 32, was jailed for four years and ten months when he appeared at York Crown Court on Tuesday (May 16). He had previously pleaded guilty to a catalogue of sex offending. The offences he admitted were possessing a paedophile manual, three counts of making indecent images of children, six counts of sexual touching, eight counts of causing a child to engage in sexual activity, two counts of taking an indecent photo of a child and two counts of meeting a child to engage in a sexual act.
The former teacher, previously of Riccall near Selby, but now of Leeds, was also ordered to sign the Sex Offenders' Register indefinitely and made the subject of a 10-year sexual harm prevention order. The court heard how during his arrest, officers seized 33 electronic devices including laptops, phones and memory sticks. Forensic examination of the devices revealed over 26,000 indecent images of children including 4,721 category A images - the most serious.
Officers also discovered the manual which went into detail about how to groom children in the lead up to abusing them sexually.
Investigating officer, Detective Constable Claire Hudson of York and Selby CID, said: “The images found on Wheeler’s devices depicted sickening and very distressing images of children being abused. Behind every image is a terrified child that has suffered in the worst possible way. By downloading these images he has helped fuel the horrific trade in child sexual abuse images, re-victimising every child in those photos and videos.
“While we did not identify any evidence that he was directly involved in the worst kind of sexual offending, we did identify direct offences of sexual touching and other grooming offences to which he thankfully pleaded guilty and spared the victims the trauma of giving evidence at court.
“When his offending was discovered, we worked with our partner agencies to ensure immediate safeguarding measures were put in place, including his suspension from his job and conditions imposed to prevent any contact with any children. I hope Wheeler uses his time in prison to take make use of the help available to prevent re-offending in the future.”