Richard Arthur Oldham

A primary school teacher from York, Richard Arthur Oldham, has been sentenced to six months' imprisonment at Leeds Crown Court for a series of child sex offences. The 32-year-old, residing in Holsworthy, Devon, admitted to three counts of voyeurism, 14 counts of making indecent images of a child, and five counts of sexual assault during an earlier hearing on 5 August 2013.

The investigation began in September 2012 when a pupil reported that Oldham had touched him in a sexual manner while teaching at one of the schools in York. Following media coverage of the initial incident, another pupil came forward, alleging inappropriate touching by Oldham at another York school between September 2010 and July 2012. North Yorkshire Police seized Oldham's computer during the probe, uncovering videos of him assaulting other unidentified children and over 2000 indecent images of children.

Detective Sergeant Adam Normanton of the York Protecting Vulnerable Persons Unit described Oldham as 'a predatory paedophile' who 'actively pursued a career in teaching to enable himself a position where he could abuse children for his own sexual gratification.' Normanton further noted that Oldham's wickedness involved targeting children he believed would not tell anyone or would not be believed. Despite initially denying the offences to police and attempting to portray himself as a model teacher, Oldham's guilty pleas marked his first acknowledgement of the crimes.

In addition to the six-month custodial sentence handed down on 16 September 2013, Oldham was issued a Sexual Offences Prevention Order, required to sign the sex offenders register for 10 years, and banned from working with children for life. The case highlights the courage of the victims and their families, who came forward to report the abuse, as praised by Normanton.