May 2003 Teacher jailed for indecently assaulting young girls A PRIMARY school teacher in North Yorkshire was today starting a two-year jail sentence for indecently assaulting young girls. Andrew Berry, 35, of Main Road, Aislaby, near Whitby, was told he would never work with children again. He was found guilty of six charges of indecent assault – five on a 10-year-old girl and the sixth on another girl, aged nine – at York Crown Court last month. Jailing him, Judge Paul Hoffman said there was a risk of him committing further offences. Berry was also sentenced to an extended five-year licence on his release and was put on the sex offenders’ register. Berry assaulted the younger girl in April last year at a youth group where he was a helper. He assaulted the other girl between October, 2001 and May last year. The families of both girls were in court yesterday. At his trial, the mother of the older girl said Berry was a trusted friend who had a good rapport with her daughter. “He always had children all round him,” she said. “They liked him a great deal as he was good fun.” The woman said he had a pet name for her daughter, to whom he showed “a lot of attention and affection”. She knew Berry was a “hands-on” person with children but became unhappy he was so tactile with her daughter and asked him to stop. Berry, who had worked as a supply teacher in North Yorkshire since 1996, took a permanent post at Stakesby Primary School, Whitby in 1998. A spokesman for North Yorkshire Council said he was suspended as soon as the allegations came to light. The spokesman added: “These incidents were not connected with school activities. Both the school and the county council co-operated fully with the police investigation. “Following the court case, the school and the local education authority have been told that they will be receiving Mr Berry’s resignation from his post with immediate effect.”