Ex-head teacher found guilty of child sex offences

The allegations came to light while Lee Brumby was head teacher at Mayflower High School in Billericay

A former secondary school head teacher has been found guilty of committing sexual offences against a child.

Lee Brumby was at Mayflower High School in Billericay, Essex, when the allegations came to light in 2022.

The 64-year-old, of Wellands in Witham, Essex, was convicted by a jury at Southend Crown Court of five offences, including two counts of rape of a child.

His ex-wife Elaine Brumby, of Kiln Way, Great Wakering, Essex, was found not guilty of all six charges she was accused of.

Lee Brumby was suspended from the high school when the historical allegations emerged.

None of the charges related to any pupil at the school, past or present. The offences took place between 2001 and 2014.

He had also worked at Southend High School for Girls, St Clere's School in Standford-le-Hope, and at a school in Newcastle.

He briefly worked at a police force.

Lee Brumby had told the trial: "I'm struggling to know why these allegations have been made".

But the jury returned unanimous verdicts after deliberating for just over 13 hours.

They found him guilty of five counts: two of rape, two of engaging in sexual activity in the presence of a child and one of indecency with a child.

The offences all related to the same victim.

Elaine Brumby was found not guilty of four counts of engaging in sexual activity in the presence of a child, one of causing a child to engage in sexual activity and one count of sexual assault.

Earlier this week, Judge Richard Conley had summed up how she had told jurors she was not her ex-husband's "partner in crime".

The proceedings this month were a retrial, after the original jury was discharged in November due to administrative difficulties.

Lee Brumby is due to be sentenced at the same court on 19 September.