Teacher jailed for possessing child and animal porn

A 'highly-respected' teacher has been jailed for 18 months for possessing indecent images of children on a USB stick alongside school work.
Caroline Parry appeared at Teesside Crown Court.Caroline Parry appeared at Teesside Crown Court.
Caroline Parry appeared at Teesside Crown Court.

Caroline Parry, 45, was head of English at a Middlesbrough secondary school when the authorities became aware she was swapping sick fantasies with a man in the US, Teesside Crown Court heard.

The married mother got involved in an online relationship with the man, who disclosed early on that he was a paedophile.

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He sent her images of serious sexual abuse of children which police found on laptops and on a USB stick when they raided her home.

At a previous hearing Parry, of Ryhill Walk, Ormesby, Middlesbrough, admitted making and possessing indecent images of children and one count of possessing extreme pornography involving a horse.

Police found 20 indecent images of children, both moving and still, with 16 of them being of the most serious category.

Sentencing the former member of her school’s senior leadership team, Judge Stephen Ashurst said: “You are a 45-year-old woman whose fall from grace is nothing less than spectacular.

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“You are regarded by the outside world as being a responsible mother.

“You have been well-respected for many years as a senior teacher at a local school.

“Your marriage is now in tatters, your home life disrupted, your career in ruins and, I am sure you will appreciate, all of this is self-inflicted.

“For a number of years you maintained an online relationship with a man in the US.

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“He described to you at an early stage that he was a paedophile and he described in explicit details his sexual preferences, for sex with children, in particular very young girls and also with their mothers, and he sent very disturbing still and moving images to you.

“Far from being repulsed by what you were either viewing or downloading, you encouraged him in his sick fantasies.

“He referred to you as being a ‘fellow paedo’ and you went along with that.”

The judge said the local community could be reassured that the victims, who were as young as two, were not family members or pupils.

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But he said that, regardless of where they lived in the world, the gravity of the offending was such that an immediate custodial sentence could not be avoided.

She was put on the sex offenders’ register for 10 years and made the subject of a sexual harm prevention order for the same period.

Harry Hadfield, prosecuting, said the investigation was launched by the National Crime Agency while it was looking into the conduct of the man in the US.

On the USB stick which contained images of abuse, they also found school materials relating to Key Stages 4 and 5, he said.

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Rachael Dyson, defending, said Parry was “extremely remorseful for her actions” and keen to work with the authorities to address her behaviour.

She described her as working long hours.

“It is expected that her arrest, charge and guilty plea has sent shockwaves through that profession - people being completely surprised that a woman who had been so highly-respected would commit offences of this nature,” she said.

After the case, Colin Radcliffe, operations manager at the NCA’s CEOP Command, said: “Whilst there is no evidence that Caroline Parry abused her position of trust at her place of work, we consider that she poses a significant risk due to the nature of the images she was downloading and viewing.

“The chat logs which she had engaged in seemed to span a number of years, and were extreme in nature.

“Individuals who think they can share indecent images of children under the radar of law enforcement should know that we will pursue them and ensure they are brought to justice.”