Teacher Joseph Nicholson sentenced over sexual messages to boy

Joseph Nicholson was sentenced to a three-year community order at Gloucester Crown Court

A teacher has been sentenced to a three-year community order for communicating sexually with a boy he was privately tutoring.

Joseph Nicholson, 30, was employed as an English master at Crypt Grammar School in Gloucester.

Nicholson began sending increasingly inappropriate messages to the boy, who reported it to his mother.

He was also sentenced to 200 hours of unpaid work and 40 rehabilitation activity requirement days.

Judge Ian Lawrie ordered that Nicholson pay court costs of £425 and a mandatory surcharge of £90, at Gloucester Crown Court on Tuesday.

He placed Nicholson on the sex offenders register for five years and made him subject to a sexual harm prevention order for the same time period.

Judge Lawrie said Nicholson "would have known from his training and life experiences in general, that his actions are not acceptable."

Prosecutor Alex Daymond said Nicholson had offered to loan the boy some books for additional reading.

"Nicholson loaned the boy a copy of 'The City and the Pillar', a novel by American writer Gore Vidal, about a young man who is coming of age and discovers his own homosexuality

"He wrote a note inside the back cover, which included his phone number," Mr Daymond said.

'Sweeten the deal'

The pair exchanged emails and then began messaging on Whatsapp.

Nicholson sent messages that made the boy feel "uneasy" and some were of a sexual nature, including asking the boy to send him a picture without a top on, the court was told.

He even suggested the boy "do something to sweeten the deal" for further help, the court heard.

When Nicholson asked to see the boy on his own away from home, he approached his mother and the police were contacted.

Judge Lawrie said: "The actions of Nicholson were an act of manipulation on many aspects.

"He was a teacher who behaved in a totally inappropriate way."

Teaching career over

Ross McQuillan-Johnson, defending, said that Nicholson's career as a teacher had ended and he faced the possibility of further disciplinary proceedings.

Nicholson, of Calne, Wiltshire, pleaded guilty to intentionally communicating with a boy under the age of 16 in a sexual manner.

He told the judge: "I've struggled with what I've done and have tried to rectify this with counselling for much of the past year.

"I now have a better understanding of things and have been able to talk to counsellors about my own issues."

Judge Lawrie told Nicholson: "Your public humiliation is extreme and complete.

"Your teaching career, which you obviously spent time qualifying for, is now over."

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