A FORMER primary school teacher sobbed as he was jailed for having sexual conversations with underage girls and other offences involving children.
A former primary school teacher has been imprisoned for a series of child sexual offenses.
Richard Leighfield, 53, was arrested in August after pretending to be a 13-year-old girl and initiating sexual discussions using an internet identity he assumed to be that of a kid, but was actually a mechanism for authorities to intercept predatory activity.
He pled guilty to six charges in December, including attempting to engage a juvenile in sexual behavior.
On Thursday, Leighfield, who had previously taught in Worcester, was sentenced to 30 months in prison.
He also pleaded guilty to three charges of manufacturing indecent images or pseudo-photographs of a kid, as well as one count of possessing a banned image of a child.
One of the photos was classed as category A, the most severe. There were eight B categories and ten C categories.
He also pleaded guilty to attempting sexual communication with a youngster.
Det Con Giuseppe Saladino of the force stated, “Leighfield displayed predatory behavior against minors and was responsible for creating awful photos.
“Fortunately his behaviour was intercepted by an online child profile, but this in no way lessens the seriousness of his offences.”
A spokesman for Northwick Manor Primary School, where Leighfield previously taught, stated: “While no students at our school were involved in this matter, we have taken it extremely seriously and have provided support to our school community as needed.”
Leighfield has been placed on the sex offenders’ register for life.
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