In a shocking incident that has come to light in UK, a former deputy head teacher of a primary school has been found guilty after he admitted to have paid and instructed teenagers in India to abuse younger children, reported National Crime Agency, which is a UK national law enforcement agency. The horrific details of the case point towards a large scale sexual abuse of children for a number of years. The accused was a former teacher at St Thomas's Battersea after he returned from Nepal. The school was also attended by Prince William's son George.
Paid money to teenage boy to get sexual images of a younger child
Matthew Smith, 34, a native of East Dulwich, was arrested by the National Crime Agency in November 2022. Investigators had found that he was sharing abuse material on the dark web. Smith is said to have been online at the time of his arrest, and was speaking to a teenage boy living in India. He was asking the teenager to send sexual images of a younger child, in return for money, reported the National Crime Agency.
Paid teenager for abusing children over a five-year period
He was charged for various offences which included causing "the sexual exploitation of a child under 13", and was remanded in custody. The accused's chat logs and financial transactions were investigated by NCA and it was found that Smith had paid that same teenager who he was talking to at the time of his arrest, and another teenager in India, an amount of UK Pounds 65,398 to abuse children over a five-year period.
Lived in Nepal when he instructed the crime
The report said that Smith was living in Nepal and working at a school when he committed the crime. Before that, he had worked in orphanages and NGOs across India between 2007-2014, said the report.
Moved back to UK in July 2022 and joined St Thomas's Battersea
Smith moved back to the UK in July 2022 and started working as a primary school in London in September that year. He was a deputy head teacher and head of pastoral care, according to the report.
Smith paid for "horrifying abuse of young children in India"
"The chat logs showed that Smith would instruct the young men to perform sexual acts on boys," the report said. Claire Brinton, Specialist Prosecutor in the CPS’ Organised Child Sexual Abuse Unit, was quoted saying by the National Crime Agency: "Thousands of images and videos were recovered from his devices which showed an appalling catalogue of sexual abuse being perpetrated on children. Smith offered individuals payments for indecent images to gratify his own sexual desires, which resulted in the horrifying abuse of young children in India."
