A TEACHER who committed a string of sexual assaults on boys at the Stevenage school where he taught has been sentenced to three years in prison. Michael Fuller, 42, was caged at St Albans Crown Court yesterday (Wednesday) after pleading guilty at an earli

A TEACHER who committed a string of sexual assaults on boys at the Stevenage school where he taught has been sentenced to three years in prison.

Michael Fuller, 42, was caged at St Albans Crown Court yesterday (Wednesday) after pleading guilty at an earlier hearing to committing the offences.

The police officer who led the investigation which resulted in his arrest has branded Fuller as a "dangerous and calculating abuser of children".

It is understood parents at the school are unhappy with the sentence and were meeting with police officers at the school yesterday evening to voice their concerns.

Fuller, who is now known as John Richards, is from Trapstyle Road, Ware.

On his release from prison he will be subject to a three-year extended licence.

Fuller used a set of body callipers to carry out sex offences on young boys, telling them he wanted to measure their body fat for research purposes, the court heard.

The popular maths teacher would invite pupils to a circuit training club he had organised after lessons.

But the measure tests he carried out were just an excuse for him to touch boys as part of a grooming process.

Offences on young boys took place in empty classrooms, changing rooms and even in a cupboard in the school.

But some of his worst offending was on a 15-year-old who had come to him to ask for extra help with his maths.

Fuller, who also had a pastoral role at the school to help youngsters who might have problems, took the boy to his home for extra tuition but instead of helping the boy, he took a series of sordid photos of him, telling the boy he could earn money modelling.

The youngster was persuaded to strip naked and Fuller took pictures of him using his digital camera as he carried out sex acts on him;

In all, the offences involved 10 boys.

Judge Mrs Justice Rafferty said some victims had managed with the help of their families to put the matters behind them but others had been affected by what had happened at the hands of the teacher.

Parents of the boys were in court to see Fuller sentenced and hear that he will never be allowed to work with children again.

After the court hearing, Det Insp Keith Tilley, who led the investigation, said: "Fuller is a dangerous and calculating abuser of children. He selected his victims for their vulnerability and went on to systematically abuse them. As a teacher he has breached his position of trust and brought disgrace to his family and profession.

"Throughout the investigation Fuller has shown a complete lack of remorse towards his victims and refused to co-operate, despite the overwhelming evidence against him.

"The guilty plea is as a result of the weight of evidence against Fuller which was obtained through a thorough investigation and careful examination of all the evidence, in particular the way in which the two investigating officers Dcs Luke Whinnett and Jo Jones of the child abuse investigation unit sensitively dealt with the many victims involved. The officers are to be commended for their handling of the case."

Det Insp Tilley added: "Hertfordshire Constabulary treats all matters of child abuse extremely seriously and will respond when allegations are made or evidence emerges to show that an individual is involved or actively encouraging the abuse of children.