A WELL respected former assistant headteacher has been sent to prison for 18 years after being found guilty of grooming former pupils into having sex with him.

Terence Burke, 75, was convicted unanimously yesterday by a jury Truro Crown Court of 16 charges involving the sexual abuse of two girls under 15 while at Falmouth School.

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Burke, who lived in Penryn at the time the offences were committed, moved to Wiltshire after taking early retirement. He had been at the school for over 30 years.

Falmouth Packet: Terence Burke was sentenced to 18 years in prisonTerence Burke was sentenced to 18 years in prison (Image: Devon and Cornwall Police)

Yesterday he was found guilty of four counts of indecent assault, five counts of indecency with a child, two counts of sexual activity with a child, three counts of sexual activity with a child while person in a position of trust and two charges of causing or inciting sexual activity with a child whilst in a position of trust during his time at Falmouth School.

Sentencing Burke to 18 years in prison, Mr Justice Saini told Burke, your victims were two vulnerable girls students under your care at family school.

He said Burke’s actions caused and continue to cause serious emotional distress ongoing mental health problems to the girls involved.

“You continue to haunt each of them,” he said. “Each lied to relevant authorities for some time to protect you. You made each of them feel they would be in trouble if anyone found out what was happening.”

He added: “People and former teachers spoke to you as being friendly approachable and the person who would always go the extra mile.

“It is clear you abused your position. What you did to child A and child B was the polar opposite of safeguarding. You exploited their vulnerabilities as teenage girls for your own sexual gratification over extended periods of time.”

He said both complainants showed great bravery in giving evidence.

“You were an established and accomplished groomer of young girls,” he said. “You used your warm and friendly manner to groom girls into sexual activity.

He added: “Your offences are so serious only immediate custodial sentence could be justified. You were in a position of trust in relation to these girls. They were groomed by you by substantial amounts of personal attention, gifts and flattery. Given your role as safeguarding lead for the school it is hard to think of a more serious breach of trust.”

Investigative officer Detective Constable Isabelle Woodall said: “I am delighted by today’s outcome and sentence which I sincerely hope will bring a sense of justice to the victims.

“These were appalling offences committed against some of the vulnerable schoolgirls that Mr Burke, as assistant head teacher and safeguarding lead at Falmouth School, was tasked to protect, and constitutes a gross breach of trust.

“Today’s result is a testament to the bravery of the victims and witnesses who assisted with the investigation and attended court to give evidence.

“Whilst nothing will change the impact of this man’s offences on our victims, It is my hope that they will now be able to put these awful events behind them and move on with their lives.”

An NSPCC spokesperson said: “Burke exploited his position of trust as an assistant head teacher to sexually abuse pupils who had been placed in his care. These crimes can have a devastating and long-term impact on the victims, and the women in this case have shown immense bravery in coming forward and reporting what happened.

“We hope that they are now getting all the support that they need, and they can find some comfort following Burke’s sentencing today. It is so important that anyone who has experienced sexual abuse knows who they can speak to and is confident they will be listened to.”

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The court heard that Burke groomed vulnerable girls at the school as the safeguarding officer before taking them to hotels and his house to have sex as well as in the back of his car two or three times a week. He was married at the time.

One former pupil said he would he would kiss her in his office, even though she was under 16.

Another said he waited until she was 16 and left school before they had full on sex but did everything else before that.

He gave one girl thousands of pounds which she spent on things such as clothes, holidays and going out. She only broke off the relationship when she suspected he was seeing another pupil after seeing a suggestive text to someone else about revising.

The former pupils said that Burke was a very popular, caring, kind teacher who pupils would go to for help. They said if they got in trouble he would always have their back.

An earlier investigation by the police into a complaint about Burke’s behaviour was dropped by the police, but in 2019 one of the his former victims reported him to the police and he was charged.