By Emeka Blast 
Teacher Sentenced to 8 Years for Online Child Sex Offences
A French teacher, Simon Clark, 46, has been sentenced to eight years in prison for online child sex offenses. He posed as a 14-year-old boy named “Jamie_jones6968” on Snapchat to groom and solicit indecent images from 26 girls, aged between 10 and 15.
The offenses came to light in January 2023 when a mother discovered explicit messages from Clark on her 12-year-old daughter’s laptop and reported it to the police. An investigation by Cheshire Police’s Online Child Abuse Investigation Team revealed hundreds of messages and indecent videos on devices seized from Clark’s home.
Clark, a father-of-two who was a head of department at Alun High School in Mold, North Wales, admitted to 29 offenses. These included inciting children under 13 to engage in sexual activity, 21 counts of sexual communication with a child, and making indecent images of children, with 26 of these images being in the most serious category.
Judge Simon Berkson, in sentencing Clark to eight years, described his crimes as “a parent’s worst nightmare” and “well planned, sophisticated, criminal behaviour.” Clark will also face an extended four years on licence after his release and has been added to the sex offenders’ register for life, with restraining orders preventing him from contacting the victims. The court heard that Clark has “lost everything,” including his job and marriage, and has only limited contact with his own children.
