A former school teacher landed in prison last week convicted of sexually abusing an autistic teenager.  

Richard Hill, 65, pleaded guilty at Worcester Crown Court to two counts of sexual activity with a child.  

The ex-teacher, of Blorenge Road, Abergavenny, committed both offences in Herefordshire over the summer of 2013.  

One offence involved Hill driving his victim to a car park, and trying to kiss her and put his tongue into her mouth. The victim said this both scared and confused her. 

 

Giles Nelson, prosecuting, said Hill had spent time building up trust with both the girl, and her family.  

"This is an extremely vulnerable individual,” said Mr Nelson. “She then saw the defendant behaving normally in front of her mother as if nothing had happened. It was very hard to understand." 

In September of the same year, Hill drove the girl into the countryside where they sat on a bench.

The court heard Hill then pulled the girl onto his lap, kissed her neck, and rubbed her body over her clothing.  

Years later, Hill’s victim gained the courage to confide in someone about what happened.  

Hill retired from teaching in 2014. 

Judge Jim Tindal said, "What does surprise me is that someone of this man’s intelligence is trying to weasel his way out of it with the probation service. It dissipates any source of remorse in his plea." 

In Hill’s defence, Jason Aris, said he thinks his client got cold feet in front of the probation service and that he stands by his pleas. 

Hill had no relevant previous convictions. Mr Aris said there had been no further offending behaviour since 2013 and he was in a stable relationship. 

He added, "For whatever reason he has appeared to completely lost all his sense of identity and engaged in a course of conduct which is completely unbecoming of his character." 

 

Judge Tindal said the defendant abused the trust placed in him, adding that the severity of the second offence warranted jail time. "This was the opportunity you took to manhandle her in a secluded area. 

"Here, we are concerned with the specific targeting of a particularly vulnerable child, not only because of the grooming behaviour, but also her disability." 

 

Hill was given 12 months in prison, put on the Sex Offenders Register for ten years and given a Sexual Harm Prevention Order for at least five years.