Primary school headteacher jailed for persuading 16-year-old girl to send sexual pictures

The mother of a girl who fell victim to sexual exploitation at the hands of a primary school teacher, has spoken out about how her daughter’s ambitions of attending a leading university were “shattered” after she exchanged intimate pictures with him.

John Stubbins, a 44-year-old who was head teacher at a school in County Durham was jailed for two years and two months, after admitting to two counts of sexual exploitation.

The victim’s mother told Durham Crown Court how her daughter, who she said used to be an A-grade student, had seen her schoolwork suffer due to the stress of what had happened. 

She said the girl, who was 16 at the time, had lost trust in teachers after sharing intimate pictures with Stubbins. The teenager, who she described as “very private”, “naïve” and “studious” before she met the head teacher, had now developed mood swings, the court heard.

Stubbins, a father of two, had previously admitted to possessing an indecent image of category B, and another of possessing 16 category C indecent images of the teenager. The court heard he had developed a "self-destructive infatuation” with the girl.

Judge Jonathan Carroll ordered him to register as a sex offender for the next 10 years, and said: "Young people are the future of the nation.

"Society depends on teachers and society needs the best of us to come forward as teachers at our schools.

"It is a privilege to hold that trust, and you abused it in a way that would truly offend and shock any right-thinking person."

The judge added that the defendant would have been aware that the offences, which occurred between February and March 2017, were potentially "career-ending".

Describing her daughter, who was not a pupil at Stubbins’ School, as a "very young 16-year-old", her mother said in her victim statement: "She is now really clingy with me and does not go out, in fact I think she had only been out three times this year."

Crying throughout, she added that the teenager, now 17, "has no trust in her teachers and has terrible mood swings".

"Her skin has even suffered from the stress, as a result of what John Stubbins has done to her," the witness added.

Prosecutor Shaun Dodds told how the defendant, of St Cuthbert's Road, Gateshead, had exchanged thousands of messages with the girl.

The court heard how, following his arrest in March 2017, Stubbins was suspended from the school he was working at.

Peter Walsh, defending, said of Stubbins: "He has inflicted severe wounds on himself, and the salt on those wounds is the effect that it has on those around him."

Following the sentencing, a spokesman for the NSPCC said: "Stubbins cruelly exploited his victim and, as a head teacher, he would have known full well the devastating effects that such abuse can have.

"It is vital that his victim now receives all the support she needs to move forward." - Independent