Hull teacher escapes jail for grooming teenager 25 years ago

Michael Page, 54, befriended the youngster when he was a choirmaster and “groomed” the impressionable child, repeatedly inviting him to his home.

He acted as a “father figure” to the boy but abused his and his parents’ trust by indecently assaulting him when his victim was aged 14 and 15.

The complainant, now 40, finally plucked up the courage to tell his family and the authorities of the abuse because he wanted Page removed from teaching.

When police arrested him 25 years after his crime, they also found hundreds of images of child porn on his computer, some of the most serious level and featuring children as young as aged eight or nine.

Page was deputy head at Tweendykes Special School in Hull, an establishment which caters for children aged three to 16 who have special educational needs due to learning difficulties.

He avoided custody after his victim told police he would prefer Page to receive counselling for his sickening desires.

Sentencing him at Hull Crown Court, Judge John Dowse said: “What you did to this young boy was abuse his innocence because of your own desires.

“He trusted you implicitly, you became something of a father figure, but behind it all was your desire to be more familiar with him. Over a period of time you effectively groomed him because as time went on your appalling behaviour worsened.

“As for your viewing of indecent images, the constant use of these sites fuels the exploitation of children.”

Prosecuting, Richard Woolfall revealed that Page was a church choirmaster in Willerby, East Yorkshire, in the 1980s and he met his victim through the choir. He was a teacher at the time at a school in Hull, but did not teach the complainant.

Mr Woolfall said that the boy looked up to him and he would regularly attend Page’s home ostensibly to watch TV, eat junk food and wear clothes his parents would not allow him to wear.

He said: “For the boy this was purely friendship, but almost every time the defendant would show him increasing affection.

“The defendant would say ‘sorry, I’m confused’ and step away before continuing similar behaviour a few days later.”

The offending ended when the boy was 15 and told Page he was going to a party to meet girls.

Mr Woolfall added: “The complainant told his parents two years ago and went to the police last year. His intention was to seek the removal of Mr Page, who was still a teacher, from contact with children.

“He said that the defendant’s illegal and amoral actions blighted his teenage years and left him angry and frustrated. Mr Page was arrested in February this year and his laptops were seized. Police then found a number of indecent images and videos of children.”

They found a total of 813 images, a small number of which were the most serious possible. Some showed children as young as eight or nine being abused. They also found one video featuring bestiality.

Mitigating, Anil Murray said bachelor Page was now bankrupt after the loss of his teaching job.

He admitted two counts of indecent assault between March 1984 and April 1986,

six of making indecent photographs of a child and one of possessing an extreme pornographic image.

He was given a three-year community order with supervision and was ordered to complete a Sexual Offenders rehabilitation course. He was also disqualified indefinitely from having any unsupervised contact with children.