Teacher who abused boys in school darkroom jailed
Sussex PoliceA former private school teacher who sexually abused 14 of his pupils has been jailed for 26 years.
David James Clarke committed more than 40 counts of child sexual abuse while teaching at Newlands School in Seaford, East Sussex, where he "preyed on" children between 1978 and 1989, the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) said.
The 82-year-old ran a photography club and would abuse pupils in the darkroom.
"Clarke was a teacher in a position of enormous responsibility who exploited them for his own hideous and vile sexual gratification, often using threats and bribes to manipulate his way to abuse numerous boys in his care," Claire Brinton, specialist prosecutor for the CPS, said.
Clarke, a former religious education teacher, was found guilty of committing 36 counts of indecent assault, five counts of gross indecency with a child and one offence of buggery while working for the school, which closed in 2014.
The Norfolk resident was also convicted on one count of making indecent images of children after police found pictures on his desktop computer when he was arrested.
Investigator Nicky Beard said: "We are committed to seeking justice for victims no matter how long-ago offending may have taken place.
"If you are a victim of any sexual offending, please do not suffer in silence – report it to us and we will support you and do everything we can to get you justice."
