PE teacher jailed for sex with four pupils after saying ‘I could go to prison for this’

An assistant head teacher who had sex with underage female pupils in his office has been jailed for 12 years.

PE teacher Sean Aldridge groomed four teenage girls, forming relationships with them and using a ‘secret phone’ he hid from his partner.

He even had a pregnancy scare with one of the victims who told the court she had a miscarriage in Year 11.

Aldridge, 37, was described as a ‘fantastic’ teacher and a ‘shining light’ at Warblington School, near Havant, Hampshire.

But after a three-week trial, Aldridge, from Southsea, Portsmouth, was found guilty of 24 counts of of sexual activity with a child, and one charge of causing or inciting a child to engage in sexual activity.

Judge Roger Hetherington jailed the father-of-two for 12 years at Portsmouth Crown Court today.

After the case, Hampshire Police Detective Inspector Toby Elcock said: ‘Children attend school expecting they will be safe in the hands of staff who are in charge of their care.

‘Sean Aldridge was trusted, as a professional, to ensure their safety but he did not. He abused this trust and groomed these young girls into engaging in a wholly inappropriate sexual relationship with him.

‘He tried to silence them to guarantee his predatory behaviour was never discovered, and for some years he succeeded.’

The inspector said Aldridge had ‘such a hold’ on the girls that two of them refrained from making allegations against him when contacted by police in 2010 and 2012 .

He praised the ‘now grown women’ for finding the bravery to finally speak out, before adding: ‘They have reclaimed their voices, and today’s guilty verdicts are testament to their courage.’

The trial heard that Aldridge hid a ‘secret second phone’ in a jacket pocket in his wardrobe and used his middle name ‘Jack’ as a code name on this phone.

Two of his victims, who cannot be named for legal reasons, had the number saved on their phones as ‘Jack Ridge’ to protect his identity.

His grooming began in 2007 after he gave a 15 year old pupil his mobile number because she was having ‘problems at home’.

Prosecutor Robert Bryan told the court the teacher bumped into the girl while out for a walk with his pregnant partner during the summer holiday.

He later texted her saying: ‘You looked nice’.

They continued to text until the relationship turned sexual once school started again in September.

Mr Bryan said: ‘She would stay late after school so they were alone, and they shared a kiss in the PE office.

‘Their encounters become more sexual before they had sexual intercourse for the first time.

‘The victim said her first sexual encounter was ruined because he kept repeating “I could go to prison for this”.’

‘They continued to meet for sex almost every day ‘at any opportunity’, including after her prom at the end of year 11.’

The victim said she had a miscarriage at 16, and that Aldridge called the child ‘our baby’.

Mr Bryan said once Aldridge’s first victim left the school, he became close to a 15-year-old girl two years below her and began texting her inappropriately.

As well as having sex in his PE office, Aldridge would her to nearby woodland where they had sex in his car, which had blacked out windows.

He later engaged in sexual relationships with two more girls at the school when they were aged just 14.

The court heard he had been reported to the school on one occasion and to police on two occasions after three of the victims told their friends about sexual encounters with Aldridge.

Each of the investigations failed to find sufficient evidence, as Aldridge would allegedly deleted all text messages and told the girls to lie for him as it would ‘ruin his child’s life’.

After the investigations, Warblington School even promoted him to assistant headteacher and head of safeguarding.

A Hampshire police spokesman added: ‘Police previously received two allegations from a third party relating to two of the girls.

‘As part of enquiries, police spoke with both of these girls at the time – the first in 2010 and the second in 2012.

‘Neither of the girls disclosed any criminal allegations to police.’