Teacher Convicted For Pupils' Sex Assault

A former maths teacher has been convicted of the sexual assault of two former pupils dating back to the 1980s.

Stephen Skelton, 63, a former maths teacher from Ealing Abbey was convicted at Isleworth Crown Court on two counts of sexual assault on two males, aged under 16 years at the time of the offences, in 1984 and 1993.

He was sentenced to a suspended 6 months jail sentence and will stay on the Sex Offenders Register for 10 years. Part of the Order given by the Court is that he is not to have any contact with children under the age of 16.

Detective Constable Christine Hobson of the Child Abuse Investigation Team at Northwood said that Skelton had abused the trust of the victims' families and sexually assaulted these boys whilst providing tutoring lessons in his own home.

"Thanks to the courage of the victims in making statements and being prepared to give evidence, we have successfully managed to bring the perpetrator to justice many years after he had, no doubt, thought he had got away with it.

"The two allegations were strikingly similar, despite the fact that they came from two separate pupils who have never met, from two different schools Skelton taught at, 10 years apart.

Skelton worked for many schools in and around Hertfordshire, Bedfordshire, Berkshire and Hampshire and police encouraged any victims of similar crimes to make contact with them.

"They will be treated with respect and their allegations will be taken seriously."

Both victims said that while at their respective schools their parents arranged additional maths tuition for them with Skelton. They attended Skelton's home for the lessons were they said Skelton sat them on his lap and touched them inappropriately.

(DW)