By Lucy Caulkett-
A chemistry teacher has been jailed for 11 years after filming himself raping a blindfolded young girl.
The shocking revelation heightens concerns about the selection process of teacher since no applicant ever announces their true colours in the interview room. This news is quite disturbing and highlights the need for students and parents not to be too trusting of teachers outside the classroom.
Chemistry teacher Jonathan Rowe was an assistant principal at Eggbuckland Community College at the time of the sexual offence. He abused the girl during visits to his home, and on Dartmoor camping trips when she was aged between eight and ten.
The sick teacher raped his victim orally whilst she slept, and blindfolded her while asking her to pose for pictures. He was only caught after she saw ’something fleshy’ through the blindfold and told her mother about his sinister activity.
The 49 year old pervert from Higher Dean,took images on his Nikon camera and his Motorola phone and transferred them onto his school laptop, which police seized from his office at Eggbuckland.The court heard that Rowe had developed an interest in young girls in the three years before his arrest and had started downloading abuse images on the internet before executing his fantasies into action.
After his arrest, police learned of an earlier incident from 2013 in which the mother of a six-year-old girl found him playing with her daughter in a rock pool on a beach.
She and her husband later went to Rowe’s home after becoming concerned about him taking photographs of the girl at a gymnastics display.
Mr Will Willden, defending, said Rowe had never been in trouble before and had lost everything through his actions. He regrets what he did and appreciated how much damage he had done to others.
Mr Piers Norsworthy, prosecuting, said Rowe was arrested in April after a ten-year-old girl, who visited his home, told her mother of two incidents in which he had blindfolded her, told her to pose with her mouth open and photographed her.
She did not know what was going on but saw something fleshy through the blindfold and felt something touch her lips.
Police seized Rowe’s school-issue lap top and found photos in which he put his member in her mouth. There were other pictures which had been taken on camping trips on Dartmoor when the girl was asleep.
There were also 327 images of young girls, including 12 showing serious abuse. Rowe told them he hoped he would die before the truth came out. Shocked cops found a video of a 13-year-old girl on a trampoline in which he had focussed on her breasts. They found a pair of the her pyjama bottoms in his bedroom.Rowe admitted three rapes, two of sexual activity with a child, five of taking indecent images of the victims, and three of making images by downloading them from the internet.
He was jailed for 11 years with a one year extended licence by Judge David Evans at Exeter Crown Court.Rowe was put on the sex offenders’ register for life and banned from going within 50 metres of any school or taking any photographs or videos of children.
RESPECTED
The judge said:
‘‘You were for many years a well respected teacher and member of your local community, married with a son and a daughter.
‘You knew more than most about safeguarding and the effect that child abuse can have on victims and their families.’He added: ‘It seems for some years you have lived a double life. By your own admissions, in recent years you have been downloading images of pre-pubescent children and you clearly have a sexual interest in children.
‘Sadly, you translated that sexual interest into the actual abuse of this girl. The purpose behind your depraved actions seems to have been to put yourself into sexual poses with the girl when her awareness of what you were doing was reduced very significantly.‘That was because you blindfolded her in what you pretended was some sort of secret activity which she was not to divulge to others. On other occasions you took advantage of her when she was asleep.
‘These were and still are powerful urges. I have read the personal statement of the victim’s mother. It is clear the harm has rippled out. As the girl who you treated in such a perverted fashion, there may be more psychological harm that will come out.
I have read your eloquent letter in which you say this was something you neither chose or wanted. I don’t know to what extent these urges were bidden or unbidden but what you did was to gratify your urges.‘That was utterly down to you and not down to some monstrous impersonal force. You bear full responsibility.’
Mr Will Willden, defending, said Rowe had never been in trouble before and had lost everything through his actions. He regrets what he did and appreciated how much damage he had done to others.
Det Insp James Stock said afterwards: ‘The offences that Mr Rowe has pleaded guilty to today, will no doubt have an onward effect on his victim.
‘I’d like to thank the victim for coming forward and reporting this to police which allowed us to achieve the result we have seen today.
‘’We urge people to find the courage to come forward because as today has shown, we will listen, we will investigate, and we will support you.’’
Pic Credits:Egg buckland.Org.Uk