'Puppet master' teacher manipulated people into sexually abusing children in their care while he watched online

Richard Clark, 29, used fake social media profiles to convince victims across globe to send him explicit pictures and videos

Richard Clark set up fake social media profiles to persuade people to send him explicit photos of children (North Yorkshire Police)

A teacher described as a "malign puppet master" has been jailed for 12 years after persuading people around the world to sexually abuse young children in their care.

Richard Clark, 29, used a series of false identities to “manipulate” his targets into making explicit pictures and videos, which he recorded for his own gratification.

In some cases, he was able to convince people to send footage of their own children, grandchildren or siblings being abused. One victim was so young a nappy could be seen in their photograph.

York Crown Court heard how Clark also set up fake social media accounts to pose as a teenager, often pretending to be friends with his victims and asking that they send indecent photographs of themselves. In return, he sent images of other people that he downloaded from the internet.

In many cases, his victims would send pictures over Snapchat and Clark would secretly take screenshots of the images without the sender knowing.

The teacher, of Topcliffe Road, Thirsk, North Yorkshire, also kept a record of his victims, categorising them based on their appearance, the size of their genitalia and the ways in which he had abused them.

The court heard his offending impacted upon victims across the world and led to 17 children being either removed from their homes or placed under safeguards.

Prosecutors identified 369 occasions on which Clark contacted people online who children in their care or access to children.

Clark admitted to 26 separate charges and a further 54 offences were taken into consideration during his sentencing on Tuesday. The offences spanned between April 2016 and April 2018, and ended when he was arrested by North Yorkshire Police officers.

He was jailed for 12 years, with a further eight years to be served on licence.

Judge Andrew Stubbs QC told him: “You are an educated and intelligent man, and you used that intelligence in order to create a web of false identities to offend both here and around the world.

“It is plain that this was all done for your own sexual gratification. You manipulated others to abuse children at your discretion like some sort of malign puppet master.”

The judge said Clark had rated his victims “as objects” for his own satisfaction, saying that many felt “trapped” as he accrued sensitive images of them.

One victim said they had contemplated suicide to escape Clark, the court heard.

Mr Stubbs told Clark: “You systematically robbed your victims of their character, their self-esteem and their life chances.”

Clark admitted to ten counts of arranging or facilitating the commission of a child sex offence, three of distributing indecent photographs of a child, nine of causing or inciting a child to engage in sexual activity or send indecent images, three of possession of indecent photographs of a child and one of possession of an extreme pornographic image.

Detective chief inspector Jim Glass, of North Yorkshire Police, said: “This has been an extremely complex and challenging case, throughout which the identification and safeguarding of Richard Clark‘s victims has been a priority.

“Working with a number of partners including the Children’s Safeguarding Board, North Yorkshire County Council, Health and Social Care and the Crown Prosecution Service, we have ensured the best possible support for all those affected throughout this case.

“The inquiry continues to send out intelligence to other police forces and law enforcement agencies around the world in relation to additional victims and offenders’ details which have been identified.”

The school were Clark taught cannot be named for legal reasons.