DONALD HUNT AND SHOCKING SEXUAL OFFENCES IN LANCASHIRE
A former religious education teacher named Donald Hunt has been convicted of engaging in predatory sexual misconduct against a teenage boy during the late 1980s in Lancashire.Hunt, who previously worked at Rhyddings High School located in Oswaldtwistle, is now 69 years old and was involved in a series of disturbing offenses that only came to light decades later.
His time at the school spanned from 1983 to 1989, during which he used his position of trust to carry out a series of sexual assaults.
According to evidence presented at Preston Crown Court, Hunt targeted a 15 or 16-year-old male student on three separate occasions between 1987 and 1989.
These assaults occurred after Hunt kept the boy behind after class sessions under the pretext of discussing academic work.
The prosecuting lawyer, Amanda Johnson, detailed the heinous nature of Hunt’s actions, stating: "The defendant would keep him back after lessons to ‘discuss his work,’ and on one occasion, when in close proximity to his victim, he rubbed himself up against him.
On another occasion, he was standing next to the child and undid the teenager’s flies and began to rub him over his boxer shorts.
The victim said he recalled feeling scared." Johnson further described a particularly disturbing incident where Hunt instructed the boy to retrieve a chair and sit beside him.
Hunt then unzipped his own flies, said to the boy, “you know what to do,” and placed the young male’s hand on his groin area.
The victim, overwhelmed and frightened, pulled away and decided to leave.
He reported the assault to his father at the time, but tragically, his concerns were dismissed, and his father refused to believe his account.
The abuse ceased only after the victim confided in a friend, who was present during the next encounter when Hunt attempted further contact.
When Hunt made a move to continue the abuse, the victim shouted to his friend, prompting the friend to run into the classroom.
Frightened by the confrontation, Hunt panicked and hurried out of the school premises, with the boys following him into the car park, making it impossible for him to escape quickly.
Despite these incidents, reports suggest that the school’s administration, including the then headteacher, was made aware of the allegations.
However, no subsequent actions were taken to address the situation at the time.
The victim, who has chosen to remain anonymous for legal reasons, recounted the impact these events had on his life, revealing that the trauma caused him to struggle with personal relationships, and led him down a path of substance abuse.
He also disclosed that he attempted suicide multiple times due to the enduring psychological scars.
The criminal case was reopened many years later, in 2019, after the victim decided to report the abuse to police, finally confronting the long-standing trauma that had haunted him.
During a voluntary police interview, Hunt admitted to attending the station but claimed he could not remember the specific victim, citing memory issues following a car accident in 2007—although medical evidence was not provided to support this assertion.
In mitigation, Hunt’s defense lawyer, Mark Shanks, highlighted his client’s current reformed character, emphasizing his community involvement and religious commitments.
Shanks expressed remorse and regret, stating: “The man before you today is a different man to who committed the offences in the late 80s.
He is a religious man who gives to the community, his friends, and his church.
He was shocked and disappointed when he heard about the effect his offending had had on his victim.
He is petrified of going to prison again, and so he should be.” Donald Hunt’s criminal history includes a previous sentence in 2006, when he received a nine-month sentence for indecently assaulting a boy in a storeroom at the same Lancashire school in 1984.
At that time, he was also subject to a sexual harm prevention order, which he later breached in 2012 when his work brought him into contact with schoolchildren.
That breach resulted in a community order.
Initially, Hunt pleaded not guilty to three counts of indecent assault, but he changed his plea to guilty on the first day of his trial in May.
Judge Heather Lloyd sentenced him to 11 months in prison, stating: “In the 80s you were a respected RE teacher and with that came the responsibility of not only the education of your students but the safety and wellbeing of your students.
You used your position to behave in a criminal and predatory way to two boys in your care.” The judge further pointed out Hunt’s prior conviction from 2006, underscoring the fact that the defendant had known about the allegations and yet chose to remain silent for many years.
She emphasized that Hunt’s denial and disputes of guilt did not absolve him of responsibility.
As a result, Hunt was also handed a 10-year order to prevent him from contact with minors and signed onto the sex offenders’ register for a decade.
Upon release, he will remain under post-sentence supervision for twelve months to ensure compliance with the court’s restrictions.
