Former Colston’s Girls’ School headteacher sent to prison for touching teenage girl ‘all over’

The former headteacher of Colston’s Girls’ School has been sent to prison after being found guilty of touching a teenage girl at home.
Alistair Perry, who was made redundant last summer by the school, had committed the attacks in 2000 in his own home in Weston-super-Mare.
The allegations came to light in 2016, after the victim was encouraged to come forward by her psychiatrist.
Perry was found guilty a month ago of the offences and was granted bail before he was sentenced in Newport Crown Court today.
Judge Jeremy Jenkins sentenced the married dad-of-four to 28 months in prison. He will serve half in custody and the other 14 months on licence.
The 46-year-old will also have to sign the Sex Offenders Register for the next 10 years.
Dressed in a purple shirt, suit and tie, he looked stoic as he was sent down.
Judge Jenkins said Perry had abused his position of trust as a teacher, and his actions had considerable impact on the life of his victim and her family.
Perry had offered to tutor the girl in Maths, despite being a history teacher at Colston’s Girls’ School.
Her parents, who got to know Perry in church, agreed because she was struggling with her GCSE revision.
But when the 16-year-old got there, he moved her to his bedroom from the study and started massaging her shoulders.
He slid his hands down her bra, touching her breasts, before spinning her round and trying to kiss her.
She shook him off and he suddenly stopped and apologised to her, the court heard.
After the first attack, he again invited her to come round to babysit his then one-year-old son.
Describing himself as a staunch Christian, he was supposed to go to a church home group with his wife.
But when the girl showed up, he told his wife he needed to stay at home to do some marking
A short time later, he came downstairs and rang his wife to said he was not going to make it before picking the girl up and putting her on his lap.
He then “touched her all over”, the court was told, placing his hands under her bra on her breasts and into her knickers onto her private parts.
She was on crutches and tried to get away, but Perry stopped after about 10 minutes, before apologising profusely.
The victim eventually told her parents, who had been senior members of the church. They confronted Perry, who said he “stayed silent” to protect his family.
Her dad said he did not want to put his daughter under the strain of interrogation and decided against reporting it to the police.
Church leaders, who found out about the attacks, also confronted Perry but they decided it was a matter for “him and God” and did not tell the authorities.
During the trial, the court was also told by one of Perry’s former students that he liked to look down girls’ tops and made sexual jokes in school.
Perry, 46, now of Colaton Raleigh in East Devon, has also been ordered to pay costs on top of the custodial sentence. Judge Jenkins said Perry showed no remorse for his actions.
June 2018
Ex-headteacher found guilty of sexually assaulting a babysitter at his Weston home
A former teacher from Weston-super-Mare, who committed an ‘appalling’ assault on a 16-year-old babysitter, has been found guilty.
Alistair Perry, aged 46, was found guilty at Cardiff Crown Court on Monday of two counts of indecent assault on the girl in 2000, following a five-day trial.
Perry offered to tutor the victim in maths, despite being a history teacher and later the headteacher at Colston’s Girls’ School, which is in Bristol.
The victim went to Perry’s Weston house to study where the pair worked in his office upstairs before later moving to his bedroom after Perry’s father-in-law needed to fit some curtains in the office.
The court was told Perry closed the door and stepped behind the victim and began ‘massaging her shoulders’.
He asked if she liked it at which point she shook her head, unable to speak.
His hands moved down her top and he begun massaging her breasts under her bra.
A Crown Prosecution Service spokesman said: “He (Perry) carried on massaging her breasts and she just tried to blank it out as she was too scared to say anything.
“The defendant then pulled his hands out and put them on her shoulders and turned her around.
“He leaned in to try and kiss her on her lips, she turned her head away so he could not kiss her.”
Then, at some point between May and August 2000, the victim was asked to babysit for Perry and his wife – who were both believed to be attending a church meeting – however, Perry remained at the house to ‘do some marking’.
The victim was on crutches at the time and was sat on the sofa when he came downstairs.
The court was told Perry, now of Colaton Raleigh in Devon, had picked up the girl and sat in the armchair with her sat on his lap, with her back against his chest.
He began running his hands under her top and trousers but stopped when his wife came home.
A jury found Perry guilty of both charges and he is expected to be sentenced on July 31.