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	Mirfield Teacher Stephen Grant Jailed for Sex Offences Huddersfield Daily Examiner October 29, 2009 http://www.examiner.co.uk/news/local-west-yorkshire-news/2009/10/29/mirfield-teacher-stephen-grant-jailed-for-sex-offences-86081-25040019/ A TEACHER who tricked boys into sending him indecent images of themselves by pretending to be a promiscuous teenage girl has been jailed for 18 months. Pervert Stephen Grant, 31, also a former town councillor in Mirfield, admitted his crimes in a confession box and was told by a priest to give himself up. RE teacher Grant gave the impression the girl was a fictitious niece of his called Charlotte who needed a boyfriend when, in reality, he was the person at the other end of the line making sexual suggestions. Speaking at Leeds Crown Court, Michael Smith, prosecuting, said that Grant had befriended former GCSE boys at a West Yorkshire school and it never crossed their mind the 19-year-old girl talking “dirty” to them through a chatroom was anything other than a member of the opposite sex. Some of the teenagers went along with the request to send sexually explicit pictures of their private parts, although others refused in spite of the make-believe girl promising to send pictures back of herself. One 16-year-old was sent pictures purporting to come from the girl showing her involved in sexual acts in return for his performing a sexual act in front of a webcam. Because he then regretted what he had done, he stopped contact with her, only to receive persistent text messages asking why he was no longer in touch. When vile Grant was arrested he denied any sexual gratification involved, blaming a specific physical interest. Dermot Hughes, for Grant, said he was a “troubled soul” who was now seen as a social leper. The offences were in fact juvenile and amateurish and, however disturbing for the youths and families involved, they were also rooted in fantasy, showing he needed help, Mr Hughes said. Grant, of Mirfield, had admitted eight charges of inciting children to sexual activity while in a position of trust between December 2007 and July 2008. Passing sentence yesterday, the Recorder of Leeds Judge Peter Collier QC, said: “The direct victims of your offences were six male pupils from the school you taught at. “You were by virtue of your role as a teacher in a position of trust. More than that you had a reputation as a caring teacher who pupils felt they could trust”. He added: “You engaged in sexually explicit conversations with them and encouraged them to send you pictures. “In return you sent them sexually explicit pictures including moving pictures taken from the internet.” Giving Grant credit for his guilty plea the judge said: “When this all came to light you made a full and frank confession to the police. “You were in a position of power and you misled and betrayed the victims you were supposed to protect.” The judge jailed Grant for 18 months, banned him from working with children and made a 10-year sexual offences prevention order against him. He will also be put on the sex offenders’ register.
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