August 2020 Sex abuse teacher given reference to find work from posh school A judge has blasted one of the UK’s most prestigious boarding schools after a paedophile housemaster was given a reference to find work abroad where he carried on his vile campaign of abuse. Paul Stevens, 62, left the £21,000-a-year Abberley Hall School, in Worcestershire, under a cloud in 1999 after suspicions were raised against his behaviour towards pupils. He was later jailed for 19 years for subjecting three boys to horrific abuse at the posh institution — which taught a string of Tory MPs. However, it has now emerged Stevens went on to abuse further youngsters after being handed a glowing reference by the school to find another job in Kenya. Disturbingly, numerous allegations had already been made against the pervert at the time the boarding school helped him find work abroad. As a result, Stevens was allowed to go on to commit two offences of voyeurism during his time working in Africa in 2012. He has now been jailed for a further three-and-a-half years to run concurrently with his existing sentence after he pleaded guilty at Warwick crown court. Judge Andrew Lockhart QC expressed concerns Stevens was given a reference by the school and said the ‘whole file needed reviewing’ by authorities. He said: ‘He was given a reference to go to Kenya. I have said the whole file needs to be reviewed by the authorities in Worcester. ‘It needs to be ensured that such things never happen again.’ The court was told how Stevens followed a boy into the showers at the school in Kenya and watched him undress. He has also admitted indecently assaulting an eight-year-old boy at Abberley Hall during the 1990s. Sentencing, the judge added: ‘In November 2019 you pleaded guilty to 15 sexual offences against three boys while they were pupils under your care at Abberley Hall. ‘The sentence I passed on you was a long one — 19 years extended to 24 — because I found you to be dangerous. ‘But that was not the extent of your offending, as illustrated by these offences today. You denied these matters, even after you had been convicted of the earlier matters. ‘Most disturbingly, you left Abberley Hall in 1999 because suspicion had been raised against your name, but the school chose to give you a reference and you went to the school in Kenya.’ When he was originally caged last year, the court heard how Stevens’ actions were ‘ignored’ by the Abberley Hall headteacher during the 1980s. The court heard how concerns had been raised at the time about Stevens’ behaviour towards the boys but nothing was done by then-headteacher Michael Haggard. Stevens assaulted one victim using a shampoo bottle and inappropriately touched other students while employed to look after the pastoral care of pupils. But he used his position to groom the boys, including luring them into his quarters by promising to let them watch Match Of The Day on TV. Steven, of Gwynedd, Wales, pleaded guilty to ten charges of indecent assault and five of indecency with a child before two more victims then came forward. Prosecutor Fiona Elder said the first had been a pupil at Abberley Hall in the 1990s where he began as a boarder when he was just eight. Stevens, who taught mathematics and sport, had accommodation at the school, and invited certain boys into his room as a ‘treat’ to watch films or TV programmes. As housemaster, once the boys were in bed at night, he would make his rounds, ‘creeping round the dormitories with a torch, tucking them in’. He used that as an opportunity to fondle one boy and when the boy flinched and turned away, Stevens began giving him punishments for rejecting his advances. Miss Elder said Stevens left Abberley Hall in 1999 as a result of suspicions over his behaviour towards some of the boys and complaints by parents. But he remained in the teaching profession, and in 2010 he took up a post at boarding school in Kenya. Among the boys at the Kenyan school was an 11-year-old who was ‘well-developed for his age’ and found communal showering embarrassing, as Stevens would stand and watch them. On one occasion the boy, who had taken to wearing swimming shorts in the shower, decided to shower after the other boys had finished, only for Stevens to follow him in. Miss Elder said: ‘The defendant made him remove his swimming shorts, and when he turned to the wall made him turn round and move his hands with which he had been covering himself. ‘He then made him wash while the defendant stood and watched. ‘On another occasion the boy stayed in his room at shower time, only for Stevens to go in and tell him to undress. ‘The boy tried to cover himself with a towel and put swimming shorts on, but Stevens made him remove them and stand naked in front of him.’ The boy told his father, but when the matter was raised with the headteacher, ‘she seemed to dismiss them as trouble-makers’ but it was taken further, and Stevens was dismissed. November 2019 Former Abberley Hall teacher sent to prison following child sex abuse A former county teacher who abused three male victims in the 80s and 90s has been sent to prison. Paul Stevens, 60, of Dyffryn Ardudwy, North Wales was sentenced to 19 years in jail for non-recent child sexual offences. These were committed while he was working as a housemaster at Abberley Hall School between 1982 and 1991. He was convicted of ten charges of indecent assault on a child and five charges of indecency with a child. Detective inspector Mark Walters from West Mercia Police said: “Paul Stevens abused his position of trust as a teacher in the worst way possible by preying on vulnerable children. “I would like to praise the victims who came forward and gave evidence against him. It is down to their courage and bravery that he has now been sentenced to nineteen years in prison for his despicable crimes. My hope is that today’s sentence will provide the victims with some sense of closure. “I also hope this case reassures anyone who has been a victim of sexual abuse, either non-recent or current, that West Mercia Police is committed to providing help and support to victims and bringing offenders to justice. We will thoroughly investigate, no matter when the abuse took place. There is help and support available, so please don’t suffer in silence.” In July, Stevens had his sentencing adjourned after admitting to the abuse, which included masturbation, using a shampoo bottle to carry out a sex act, sexual touching and oral sex. Some of the counts reflected multiple incidents. One of the victims died in 2010. May 2019 Guilty: Abberley Hall teacher Paul Stevens admits child abuse A former teacher admitted sexually abusing three young boys as more potential victims came forward. Paul Stevens, former housemaster at Abberley Hall School, near Worcester, changed many of his pleas to guilty just a day after his trial began at Worcester Crown Court. The jury had already watched video interviews from the first victim, now an adult, about the abuse he suffered in the early 1980s. He was due to give evidence directly before the defendant’s change of heart. Following discussions between barristers, Stevens was brought back to court to face the 29 counts which ran between January 1, 1983 and March 22, 1991. He admitted five counts of indecency with a child and 10 indecent assaults against boys. The abuse included masturbation, using a shampoo bottle to carry out a sex act, sexual touching and oral sex. Some of the counts reflected multiple incidents. One of the victims died in 2010. After Stevens admitted the offences, judge Andrew Lockhart QC directed that the jury return unanimous guilty verdicts on those counts. The jury was discharged from returning verdicts on the remaining 14 counts which will lie on file. The judge adjourned the case so victim personal statements and a pre-sentence report could be prepared which he said ‘will go to the issue of dangerousness.’ Judge Lockhart said: “It seems other men in the interim have come forward and have complained about conduct towards them.” The judge said he did not want to sentence Stevens ‘piecemeal’ but for the ‘overall picture’, including for any further charges the Crown may bring. Stevens will appear again before judge Lockhart wherever he is sitting on July 5.