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A former West Sussex teacher has been sentenced for child sex offences and sharing personal data of some pupils.
Nick Baldock, 46, formerly of Lancing College, was charged with sexual assault after indecently touching a teenager in July, 2022. The boy was a college pupil at the time.
Baldock contacted the victim after the incident, under the guise of apologising, but made inappropriate sexual comments about younger boys.
He was arrested and a number of digital devices were seized.
These were found to contain several indecent images of children, including one of the most serious Category A images. None of these were of current or former pupils at Lancing College.
Messages that Baldock had with other users on the Telegram messaging app also indicated a sexual interest in boys aged between 13 and 17.
The investigation showed that Baldock was found to have sent some non-indecent pictures of boys to other like-minded individuals, some of which had been downloaded from the school database.
He was subsequently charged with sexual assault and two counts of publishing an obscene article, as well as three counts of knowingly disclosing personal data without consent relating to six victims who were pupils at the college.
He was also charged with three counts of making an indecent photograph of a child. These images did not relate to children at the school.
The offences took place between August, 2021, and December, 2022.
At Crawley Magistrates’ Court on Friday, 30 August, Baldock pleaded guilty to all charges.
At Hove Crown Court on Thursday 24 October, Baldock was sentenced to 12 months' imprisonment suspended for 24 months. He will register as a sex offender and will be managed by a Sexual Harm Prevention Order for eight years. HH Judge Rennie stated that Baldock had shattered the trust of his students and put his own sexual gratification above it.
Detective Sergeant Paul Hitchcock of Sussex Police’s OCAT (Online Child Abuse Team) said: “Nick Baldock’s pattern of behaviour shows a clear, sexual interest in young boys that he acted upon physically and online.
“Not only was his offending a betrayal of his responsibility to protect the children under his care, he also showed a callous disregard for the child victims who appeared in his indecent photographs.
“Thanks to the victim of the initial sexual assault, and the support of Lancing College, we were able to uncover the scale of Baldock’s offending and bring him to justice.
“The Sexual Harm Prevention Order severely limits Baldock’s ability to harm other young people, and I hope provides some measure of comfort for his victims.”