A former teacher from Ellesmere Port has been jailed after he admitted almost 30 counts of sexual offences involving children.

Simon Clark appeared at Chester Crown Court on Friday 6 where he was sentenced to eight years in prison, plus four years on licence.

The 46-year-old, of no fixed abode, Ellesmere Port, had previously pleaded guilty to 29 offences, including –

• One count of inciting a child under 13 to engage in penetrative sexual activity.
• Two counts of inciting a child under 13 to engage in non-penetrative sexual activity.
• Two counts of inciting a child under 16 to engage in non-penetrative sexual activity.
• 21 counts of engaging in sexual communication with a child under 16.
• Making 26 indecent images of children of Category A.
• Make 29 indecent images of children of Category B.
• Make 81 indecent images of children of Category C.

In addition to his custodial sentence, Clark has also been added to the sex offenders register for life and handed restraining orders preventing him from contacting the victims.

The case against Clark began in January 2023 when police in North Wales were contacted by a concerned parent who reported that their teenage daughter had been receiving messages from an unknown man requesting naked images.

Initial enquires suggested that the suspect was living in the Cheshire area, so the case was passed to Cheshire Police.

An investigation was subsequently launched by detectives from the Online Child Abuse Investigation Team (OCAIT) at Cheshire Police and during their enquiries officers established that Clark, who was working as a teacher, was the suspect in the case.

A warrant was conducted at his home in May 2023 and a number of devices were seized from the address.

During subsequent analysis officers discovered that Clark had been posing as a teenager using a snapchat account under the name ‘Jamie_jones6968’.

Within the account detectives recovered hundreds of messages to a large number of girls, at least 30 of whom were under the age of 16.

Many of the messages were of a sexualised nature, with Clark regularly requesting for the girls to share indecent images of themselves.

In addition, officers also recovered more than 100 category A, B and C indecent images of children from Clark’s devices.

Following the sentencing, Detective Constable Louise Murphy and Detective Constable Megan Griffiths, who led the investigation, said:

 “Firstly, we would like to praise the victims in this case for the bravery and courage that they have shown throughout this investigation.

“Clark was a teacher, he held a position of trust, and the messages we recovered clearly showed that he was well aware that his victims were all under the age of 16, but despite this he continued his crimes in order to satisfy his own warped sexual desires.

“It was apparent throughout the investigation that Clark is a sexual predator who preyed on young girls, with no regard for the effects his actions would have on the victims or their families.

“While they will never be able to forget what he did, we hope the sentence handed to Clark will provide the victims with some closure and allow them to move forward with their lives.”

For advice on identifying signs of sexual exploitation visit Child Sexual Exploitation & How to Keep Your Child Safe | NSPCC

To report a sexual offence call Cheshire Constabulary on 101. Information can also be given online at https://www.cheshire.police.uk/ro/report or anonymously via Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.