Ex-deputy head of Prince George and Princess Charlotte’s school admits 22 charges of child sexual abuse

A top primary school teacher who trained Prince George and Princess Charlotte has admitted paying thousands of pounds to Indian teenagers in exchange for sexually explicit images of children.

Matthew Smith, 34, of East Dulwich in London, pleaded guilty today to a further 18 counts of child sexual abuse, including paying more than £65,000 to force teenagers in India to abuse children.

The ex-deputy headteacher of Thomas’s preparatory school in Battersea High Street, southwest London, was fired from the £20,000-a-year preparatory school that taught Prince George and Princess Charlotte after allegations were first brought to light last November. came forward.

The Oxford University graduate worked in orphanages and NGOs across India from 2007 to 2014 before taking up employment as an assistant headteacher at a British school in Nepal’s capital, Kathmandu, from 2017 to July 2022.

Smith has now pleaded guilty to a total of 22 charges after detectives raided his London home last November and discovered he asked a teenager in India to send him sexual images of a younger child, police said.

The teacher also had dark websites and forums open on his computer devoted to child sexual abuse, according to Britain’s National Crime Agency (NCA).

Detectives then analyzed chat logs and bank transactions to reveal that Smith paid the same teen, and another who also lives in India, a total of £65,398 to abuse children over a five-year period.

Before joining the school in Nepal, Smith spent several periods working in orphanages and NGOs across India from 2007 to 2014.

He then moved back to the UK last July and started working at Thomas’ prep in September, where he was Deputy Headmaster and Head of Pastoral Care, before being dismissed from the school two months later when charged by police.

Chat logs revealed that Smith would direct the young men to perform sexual acts on boys and send them images and videos as examples of those he would like to see again.

The prep school teacher also gave one of the teens advice to befriend children and build their confidence to abuse them, police said.

The potential of his crimes was first discovered while Smith was working in India, but there is nothing to suggest he abused children in Nepal or the UK, the NCA said.

After a raid on Smith’s home in south-east London, officers found more than 120,000 indecent images of children stored on his laptop, SD card and phone.

Prosecutors charged him with a total of 22 felonies, including encouraging the rape of a child under 13, inciting sexual activity of a child under 13, and arranging for child sexual abuse.

He pleaded guilty to 17 charges at Southwark Crown Court today, having previously admitted five charges at a hearing in November.

Helen Dore, senior officer of the National Crime Agency, said: ‘Matthew Smith was a high-risk individual and we acted quickly to locate, arrest and remand him in custody so that he no longer poses a threat to children could form.

“In the end, we were able to prove that he was a prolific offender who manipulated young men into sexually abusing children on his behalf, giving them detailed instructions and financial rewards.

“At the time of his transgression, Smith worked at a school in Nepal and subsequently became deputy headmaster and head of pastoral care in the UK, so his transgression is a deep betrayal of the trust placed in him.”

None of the offenses relate to his job at the £20,000-a-year Thomas’s primary school, which was attended by Prince George and Princess Charlotte until the end of last school year.

Both royal children have now moved to Lambrook School, near Ascot in Berkshire, and had left by the time Smith took office in September.

Claire Brinton, specialist prosecutor with the CPS’s Organized Child Sexual Abuse Unit, labeled Smith’s crimes “particularly disturbing” as he was an elementary school teacher.

She said after today’s hearing: ‘The crimes of Matthew Smith are particularly disturbing given his role as a school teacher entrusted with the responsibility of caring for and protecting children.

Thousands of photos and videos were found on his devices showing a horrific catalog of child sexual abuse.

Smith offered individuals payments for indecent images to satisfy his own sexual desires, resulting in the horrific abuse of young children in India.

“This conviction sends a clear signal that the CPS, together with the NCA and international partners, will work to bring those who sexually abuse and exploit children to justice wherever that abuse takes place.”

Before joining Thomas, Smith was Assistant Headteacher at the British School in Kathmandu, Nepal for five years.

He also taught at St Paul’s School in London, which charges £44,000 a year, and has degrees from Oxford and Cambridge Universities.

A spokesman for Thomas’s school said: ‘We are extremely shocked and appalled by this case and are grateful for the work of the police and the courts to bring this man to account.

Mr Smith’s employment with the school, which began in September 2022, was terminated with immediate effect when the school first learned of the charges against him in November.

“While the National Crime Agency has confirmed that none of the cases under investigation relate to the school or its students, these regrettable actions represent an unforgivable breach of trust and our thoughts are with those affected or damaged.

“As always, we remain absolutely committed to the continued safety and well-being of our students and our entire school community.”

Smith will be sentenced in the same court next month.