Predator primary school teacher raped girl, 12, in hotel then took her to toy store after asking to be her ‘sugar daddy’
A PRIMARY school teacher raped a 12-year-old girl in a hotel then took her to a toy store after begging to be her “sugar daddy”.
Simon Murch, 55, asked the victim to send him indecent pictures when they met online.
Although the girl told him she was 18, Stoke-on-Trent Crown Court heard he would have been aware of her age when they met.
Murch picked the victim up near her home and drove them to The Tollgate Hotel where she waited in the car as he booked a room.
The predator then raped the schoolgirl before taking her to a Smyths toy shop where he spent £500.
Murch has now been jailed for seven-and-a-half years with a further one year on licence after admitting rape.
The court heard he first began messaging the girl online before moving their chats to WhatsApp.
Murch asked her to send indecent images and videos before they met up.
Prosecutor Tim Harrington said: “He asked if she wanted him to be her sugar daddy.
“They arranged to meet in Stoke-on-Trent. He booked a room at The Tollgate Hotel. At that stage he may not have known her true age.”
The vile abuse came to light when the schoolgirl told a teacher that she had a sugar daddy and Murch was arrested.
The teacher must serve two thirds of the custodial sentence before can be considered for parole.
As well as a jail term, he was also placed on the sex offenders’ register for life and made the subject of an indefinite Sexual Harm Prevention Order (SHPO).
Judge Graeme Smith said: “Because of problems in your relationship with your partner you began communicating with adult females over the internet, exchanging photos and images and meeting some for sex. One was this victim.
“You asked if she wanted you to be her sugar daddy. You sent her money and you exchanged pornographic images with her.
“It would have been plain when you met her that she was significantly younger than 18. You simply carried on.
“As a teacher you should have been alert to the risks. When you met her it was plain she was not an adult.”