Teacher jailed for abusing boys

A former boarding school teacher who sexually abused young boys has been jailed for four-and-a-half-years.

Andrew Gordon, of Forest Gate, south-east London, was described by the judge as a "shark" who "cruised the troubled waters of adolescence".

Gordon, 49, was found guilty of nine counts of indecent assault by a jury at London's Snaresbrook Crown Court.

The court heard Gordon had subjected one boarder to a "systematic and regular campaign of sexual abuse".

Each boy had at the time personal problems...and thus your subsequent betrayal of that trust was all the more brutal. Judge William Kennedy

The charges relate to assaults on two boys; one at a West Country boarding school and then another at a London comprehensive.

The jury failed to reach a verdict on a 10th charge concerning a third youngster.

One youngster told the court that his ordeal lasted nearly two years after Gordon moved him out of a dormitory and into his own room to ensure his nightly visits remained undiscovered.

Passing sentence on Thursday Judge William Kennedy said it was a "brutal betrayal" hidden behind the "cruel deception of a caring decent and committed teacher".

Sex offender

He added: "Each boy had at the time personal problems known to you, which lowered his defences and thus your subsequent betrayal of that trust was all the more brutal.

"You groomed each to accept your attentions, moving from an innocuous touching, step by step to the moment of sexual assault."

Gordon, who has been ordered to register as a sex offender for 10 years and indefinitely banned from working with children, denied any wrongdoing.

He insisted his accusers had either invented their ordeals or suffered abuse at somebody else's hands.