A NOW-retired Redditch school teacher who sexually abused two young girls and took indecent photographs of them has been jailed for four-and-a-half years.

A judge at Warwick Crown Court also ordered Simon Moody to register as a sex offender for life and made him subject to a sexual offences prevention order.

Moody, 71, of New Road, Studley, at the time of the offences, had pleaded guilty to two charges of indecent assault and two of making indecent images of children.

The former teacher at Ridgeway school in Redditch was jailed for three years for the indecent assaults, with a consecutive 18-month term for the indecent pictures.

Prosecutor Iain Willis said that in around 1998 a six-year-old girl went with her parents to Moody’s New Road home, where he took her into another room to use his computer.

But after helping her with the computer, he sexually assaulted her, before taking photographs of her.

Moody told her not to tell anyone. Although she knew what had happened was wrong, she felt unable to tell anyone until confiding in her boyfriend last November, who persuaded the victim, now in her late teens, to tell her mother.

When arrested, Moody admitted what he had done.

He said he had been interested in young girls ‘for a very long time,’ and had also downloaded images onto his computer, where the police found 32 still and 80 moving images.

88 were classed as level four and two were level five - the highest level.

Police also re-opened an earlier investigation into Moody’s conduct towards an eight-year-old girl.

Her parents had made a complaint to the police in 2002 about his repeated sexual abuse of her in the late 80s when he had been giving her private maths tutoring.

At that time Moody was interviewed and denied the offences, and no further action was taken. When questioned again he admitted it.

Mr Willis said in the late 80s the girl was struggling with maths, and her parents approached Moody, the then teacher at Ridgeway School, until his retirement in 1992, to give her private tuition at her Redditch home.

During their third tutorial, he sexually assaulted her. This happened at every session, and she said she did not really receive any maths tuition. She said he also took pictures of her.

Kevin Saunders, defending, said: “Were he to be sentenced for any other offence, I would be able to advance on his behalf his previous good character, his years of service to the community and years of service to his profession.

“But in these circumstances they serve only to be aggravating features. The further tragedy is that any good he has done, his life-time profession and his commitment will always be viewed with cynicism. He is thoroughly ashamed.”

Mrs Justice Dame Julia Macur told Moody: “In 2002 a young woman made a complaint against you. You denied it, and your good standing in the community prevented any further investigation - she was disbelieved.

“You have now had the good sense to show your remorse by pleading guilty to that offence which was resurrected following the investigation of your further sexual offending.

“Both victims were very young girls, and were vulnerable. You abused your position of trust.

“You committed further degradation upon them by taking photographs. This is mirrored is by the depraved images found on your computer.”

And she pointed out that in a probation interview Moody revealed two previous occasions when complaints had been made against him in the course of his profession, and not proceeded with.