Ex-teacher jailed for sexually assaulting four students

A former teacher at a prestigious Belfast grammar school has been jailed for two years for sexually assaulting four children there in the 1970s.

William Lloyd Lavery, aged 77, of Richmond Avenue in Lisburn, taught at Richmond Lodge College in the city.

He was head of the history department.

He was found guilty of six offences of indecent assault involving four pupils after a two-week trial.

The offences occurred between 1974 and 1979.

The independent college later amalgamated with another school.

Lloyd Lavery had denied the accusations against him and claimed he had been the victim of a vendetta on social media.

But the trial jury found he had been responsible for a number of sexual assaults against young students.

The court heard that Lloyd Lavery continued to deny his guilt even after his conviction.

A prosecution barrister told Laganside Crown Court that it was a "classic breach of trust case" involving a teacher-pupil relationship.

"That's of the upmost seriousness in terms of aggravating factors," she said.

The trial heard that he had sexually assaulted one victim while asking her to help him reach a book in a store cupboard.

One of those assaulted said she felt that she had been "hunted like prey" through her own school by a teacher for his own sexual gratification.

One child told her mother about what had happened when she was aged 13, and they went to the school about it.

The mother, now aged 93, told the trial the approach appeared to be to do nothing about it.

The court was told that three of the victims had provided impact statements.

Parts of several were read to the court.

"I have never let William Lloyd Lavery ruin my life by any means, but he has certainly given it a dimension I could do without," one wrote.

Another referencing his continued denials, said: "If anything gives an insight into his way of thinking, it’s this.

"Right up to his very last breath on the witness stand he was abusing us."

The court heard that after leaving Richmond College, Lloyd Lavery went on to teach in Lurgan Community College and become deputy director of a higher education institute.

He also worked as a political advisor to a number of Ulster Unionist MLAs at Stormont where he did research and wrote speeches.

Judge Patrick Lynch said the defendant had violated the trust placed in him in the "grossest manner".

He said the case should stand as a warning to anyone minded to harm children that there crime "would catch up with them decades after" and that they would spend the rest of their lives "looking over their shoulders in fear of that day of reckoning coming".

'This man was an opportunist'

Outside court, Detective Inspector Kelly Foley, the PSNI officer who led the investigation, praised the women who had come forward.

"This man was an opportunist, using his position of power and trust within the school environment to prey on young girls. He thought for a long time he had got away with this; today has proven that the passage of time has no bearing on a criminal justice outcome.

"I want to thank the bravery of the victims in coming forward. We have seen an increase in reports of non-recent child abuse over the last five years, with an average of 76 new referrals of this type each month across the province. Sentencings like today, I hope, will provide those who have suffered with the confidence to break the years of silence they have endured.

"Let this serve as another warning to those perpetrating child sexual abuse in our communities, we are working every day to break down reporting barriers and encourage victims to come forward. Our specialist officers are working day and night to relentless pursue offenders and bring them to justice."

And one of the victims, speaking to RTÉ News, said she felt "justice had been served" for all of William Lloyd Lavery's victims.

"Society is waking up now to the seriousness of abuse.

"People are more educated and aware of the difficulties that victims find in coming forward.

"It's now time for institutions to stand up in solidarity with the victims instead of hiding things and brushing them under the rug."

The Public Prosecution Service welcomed the two-year sentence.

Senior Public Prosecutor Jenny Burns paid tribute to the victims for their bravery in coming forward.

"The victims made this conviction possible by virtue of their courage in coming forward. We know this is a daunting and difficult thing to do.

"This offender targeted young girls in school. They should have been safe in his care, instead he exploited his position to indecently assault them."