Nottingham ex-teacher jailed for rape and assault

Roger Caffrey "calculated" that his victims were "ripe" for abuse, Judge Timothy Spencer QC said

A former deputy head teacher has been jailed for more than 17 years for raping and touching young girls - including one aged nine.

Roger Caffrey, 70, was found guilty of three counts of rape and 12 counts of indecent assault in Nottinghamshire from 1978 to 1994.

One ex-pupil was raped six times by Caffrey at his home during a "campaign of rape", Nottingham Crown Court heard.

A number of offences against his seven victims took place during lesson time.

Caffrey was cleared of two charges of indecent assault following a three-week trial.

Police began investigating him after a victim, who said she was raped when she was nine years old, contacted officers in December 2012.

Nottinghamshire Police said all but one of the offences took place when Caffrey was deputy head teacher at Northgate Primary School in Nottingham - now the Djanogly Northgate Academy - from 1978 to 1984.

Caffrey, of Sandesquoy, Tankerness, Orkney, taught at 10 schools in the county in a career spanning more than three decades.

Pupils "no older than 11 years of age" were touched while they read aloud in class, or when they were in a store cupboard in the classroom, the court heard. Two victims were raped at Caffrey's home.

'Ripe for abuse'

One of the rape victims went to the police 22 years ago but no charges were brought due to a lack of evidence, the court heard.

She was contacted in 2013 following the start of the investigation into Caffrey, but the original documents into the 1994 case had been lost.

Michael Evans, defending Caffrey, said: "He was a teacher for a number of years and, outside of these offences, a very good teacher."

Judge Timothy Spencer QC said: "You deliberately targeted these girls, you calculated that they were ripe for this sort of abuse and you calculated that they would not tell.

"Their classroom, their school, should have been a place where they felt safe and secure. They must have felt anything but."

Det Con Rob Smith, of Nottinghamshire Police, added: "Caffrey believed that he would be able to put his past behind him, but...it has been shown that the passage of time is no hindrance to justice taking its course."

Roger Caffrey was found guilty of 12 counts of indecent assault and three counts of rape at Nottingham Crown Court