A woman who taught at a secondary school has been jailed for 18 months for possessing indecent images of children on a USB stick that also contained schoolwork.
Caroline Parry, 45, was head of English at Bishopsgarth School in Stockton-on-Tees, when the authorities became aware that she was swapping fantasies with a man in the US, Teesside crown court was told.
The married mother became involved in an online relationship with the man, who disclosed to her early on that he was a paedophile. He sent her images of serious sexual abuse of children, which police found on laptops and a USB stick at her house.
At a previous hearing, Parry, of Ormesby, Middlesbrough, admitted making and possessing indecent images of children and possessing extreme pornography involving a horse.
Police found 20 indecent images of children, both moving and still, with 16 in the most serious category. Judge Stephen Ashurst, sentencing Parry, said: “Your marriage is now in tatters, your home life disrupted, your career in ruins and, I am sure you will appreciate, all of this is self-inflicted.
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“[The man] described to you at an early stage that he was a paedophile and he described in explicit details his sexual preferences, for sex with children, in particular very young girls and also with their mothers, and he sent very disturbing still and moving images to you. Far from being repulsed by what you were either viewing or downloading, you encouraged him in his sick fantasies.
“He referred to you as being a ‘fellow paedo’ and you went along with that.”
The judge said that Parry described the child victims as “cute” and said in messages to the man they appeared to be “loving” what was happening.
The court heard that the images, showing serious abuse by adults of children as young as two, depicted the victims in “visible pain” and distress. The judge said the local community could be reassured that the victims were not family members or pupils.
She was put on the sex offenders register for ten years and made the subject of a sexual harm prevention order for the same period.
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Rachael Dyson, in mitigation, said Parry was “extremely remorseful for her actions” and keen to work with the authorities to address her behaviour.