A RETIRED Chelmsley Wood teacher has been told he is likely to be jailed after he admitted sexual offences against three boys in the 1980s.
John Patton had originally been arrested over indecent assaults on two of his victims – but press reports then led to a further charge after an earlier victim came forward.
And at Warwick Crown Court Patton (75) who used to teach at Kingshurst School in Cooks Lane, Chelmsley Wood, pleaded guilty to two charges of indecently assaulting 15-year-old boys in 1984.
The court heard he committed the offences by touching the boys’ genitals over their clothing.
His plea of not guilty to a further charge alleging he performed a sex act on one of the boys was accepted.
Patton, of Chaddesley Court, Mount Nod, Coventry, also pleaded guilty to a single charge on a second indictment of indecently assaulting another 15-year-old in 1981 or 1982 by touching him under his clothing.
Prosecutor Philip Bradley said: “The 1984 matter was arrest number one. The press reports from the first indictment incited the interest of the complainant in the second indictment, and so it was that it came to light.”
The court heard that the offences in 1984 had taken place at Patton’s home, while the earlier incident had taken place in London.
The case was adjourned for pre-sentence and medical reports to be prepared on Patton, who is said to suffer from a heart condition.
He was granted bail with conditions of living at his home address, complying with a nightly curfew and not contacting any of his victims.
But Judge Andrew Lockhart QC told him: “You have pleaded guilty to serious matters which involved a serious breach of trust when you were a teacher.
“You must understand that because of the offences you have pleaded guilty to, the likely outcome of this case will be a custodial sentence; but all options will be open to the court to consider when it has seen all the reports.”
