Ex-teacher admits child porn charges

A FORMER South Devon teacher who posed as a lesbian model to seduce a girl into sending him sexual photographs has been told to sign on as a sex offender and faces the possibility of prison.

Andrew Delafield, 28, who had worked as a physical education teacher until the summer of 2007, contacted the girl over the internet and was eventually trapped by the teenager's boyfriend, Exeter Crown Court heard.

Prosecutor Malcolm Galloway said Delafield and the girl exchanged messages over a social networking site which became sexual in their content.

"He asked her to send photographs of herself," said Mr Galloway, who told the court Delafield was clad in a towel performing a sex act at the time.

"She was very upset and contacted her boyfriend who took over the conversation and pretended to be her.

"The defendant was persuaded to give details and a photograph," said Mr Galloway.

The prosecutor said Delafield also contacted a second teenage girl over the internet and tried to get her to send him indecent pictures of herself.

Mr Galloway told the court that Delafield 'sought out girls he knew were young'.

Officers then seized Delafield's computer which was analysed and found to have more than 250 indecent images covering all five categories of seriousness on it.

Of the pictures found on his computer 196 were level one, 10 at level two, 13 at level three, 37 at level four and five in the most serious category.

The court heard that Delafield had already left his teaching post and had set up a company providing software and training for sports coaches.

Delafield, of Fairfield Road, Denbury, Newton Abbot, pleaded guilty to two charges of attempting to make indecent pictures of children and 11 of making indecent pictures of children.

His sentence was adjourned for a pre-sentence report which Judge Graham Cottle said should primarily address the risk Delafield posed to teenage girls.

He heard that when he was interviewed by the police Delafield told them he found girls of 16 sexually attractive and if they were over 16 they were fair game.

He said he was sexually excited by them.

Delafield was ordered to sign on the Sex Offenders' Register in the interim.

He will be told how long for when he is sentenced on a date to be fixed.

In granting him bail Judge Cottle told Delafield: "You must understand that the fact I am granting you bail is not be taken by you as any indication that you will not receive a custodial sentence."