Michael Higgins, a 75-year-old pensioner and former teacher from Ipswich, appeared before Ipswich Crown Court on Wednesday, where he pleaded guilty to two charges of making indecent images of children and one charge of possession of extreme pornography. This admission comes as part of his ongoing history of sexual offences involving child imagery, with documents revealing he was found in possession of one Category A indecent photograph of a child and two Category B images on his computer. Additionally, the extreme pornography charge related to an image depicting a person performing a sex act on a dog, described in court as portrayed in an 'explicit and realistic way' and of a 'grossly offensive, disgusting or otherwise of an obscene character' nature.
According to the Crown Prosecution Service, the term 'making' in these charges encompasses actions such as opening email attachments, downloading images, or accessing websites where indecent images appear, including via pop-ups. Indecent images are categorised from A to C, with Category A being the most serious, often involving penetrative acts, Category B covering non-penetrative sexual activity, and Category C including other indecent material. Judge David Wilson, presiding over the case, noted that Higgins had an 'unenviable' string of prior convictions, remarking that while this most recent offending remained serious, it was at the less severe end compared to his previous history.
Higgins' criminal record dates back to 2005, when he was jailed for four years for 17 offences of making and distributing indecent images of children. At that time, the court heard that Higgins, who had worked as a teacher and unofficial photographer at Rosemary Musker High School in Thetford, abused his position of trust by creating more than 15,000 indecent or pseudo images of 132 pupils between 1999 and January 2005. He superimposed the faces of his pupils onto downloaded pornographic pictures. In 2016, he received a 12-month prison sentence for five offences of making indecent images of children, possessing a prohibited image of a child, and two counts of possessing extreme pornography. Most recently, in 2022, Higgins was imprisoned for a third time specifically for downloading indecent images of children, following which he was forced to leave his lifelong teaching profession.
Prior to this latest court appearance, Higgins resided at The Street in Wattisfield, though current proceedings reference his address on Raeburn Road in Ipswich. Judge Wilson ordered the probation service to prepare an 'all-options' report ahead of sentencing, scheduled for 13 January next year, and warned Higgins that he may face a further jail sentence. The case was reported by the Ipswich Star, with Suffolk Constabulary involved in the investigation.