Phillip Evans

A former music teacher at King Edward's School in Edgbaston, Birmingham, has been imprisoned for secretly filming and sexually assaulting young boys at the prestigious public school where he worked. Phillip Evans, aged 38 and residing on Warwards Lane in Selly Oak, exploited his position of trust to install hidden cameras and perpetrate abuse over several years.

Evans, who also oversaw the school's RAF cadet scheme, admitted to charges of sexual assault, voyeurism, and making indecent images of children at an earlier hearing. At Birmingham Crown Court, he was sentenced to three years and eight months in custody. The court heard that Evans had purchased tiny remote-controlled cameras, which he concealed in school changing rooms to capture footage of pupils preparing for sports activities. Additionally, he hid a camera in a store cupboard used for the cadet programme, where he physically abused boys under the pretence of measuring them for their fatigues.

West Midlands Police investigations revealed that Evans's computer contained 350,000 indecent images of children accumulated over four years. While most images were downloaded from the internet, a significant number were recorded at the school, depicting the abuse of seven identified boys. Detective Chief Inspector Chris Hanson described the material as 'deeply disturbing' and commended his team's efforts in analysing the images to identify the victims, the locations of the crimes, and the timelines involved. 'Evans, who has no previous convictions, had amassed 350,000 indecent images of children over four years and my team had the deeply disturbing job of analysing those sickening images in a bid to identify the boys who had been abused, where the crimes took place and when,' Hanson stated. The investigation, supported by the determination and expertise of the officers, ensured that the victims and their families received ongoing support throughout the process.

The case came to light following earlier reports, including a story published on 24 August 2013 about Evans facing child sex charges. This sentencing on 28 November 2013 marks a significant outcome in addressing the betrayal of trust by a teacher in a position of authority over vulnerable pupils. West Midlands Police emphasised the methodical approach that led to the identification of the seven boys assaulted at the school, highlighting the importance of thorough digital forensics in such cases.