Staff at the former primary school of Prince George and Princess Charlotte say they are "shocked and appalled beyond measure" after their former deputy head teacher was sentenced for paying for children to be sexually abused on video.
In a statement released today after 35-year-old Matthew Smith was sentenced to 12 years in prison for paying for sexual photos of children as young as 7, Thomas’s Preparatory School condemned its ex-employee's "deplorable" actions, according to a South West News Service report.
"We have been shocked and appalled beyond measure by this matter and are grateful for the work of the police and courts in bringing this man to account," a spokesperson for the £20,000-a-year school in Battersea, southwest London, said.
Prince George started at the school in 2017, and Princess Charlotte enrolled there in 2019. But both had left by the time Smith became employed by the school, and there is no suggestion any of his offenses are related to Thomas's or its students, Sky News reported.
Smith began working at Thomas's Battersea, where he was also head of pastoral care, in September last year but was fired two months later after he was arrested by the National Crime Agency (NCA), the outlet reported.
The school's spokesperson said that while the NCA confirmed that none of the matters under investigation related to the school or its students, "these deplorable actions constitute an unforgivable breach of trust, and our thoughts are with those who have been impacted or damaged by them."
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"As always, we remain absolutely committed to the ongoing safety and well-being of our pupils and our whole school community," the school said.
Smith, from East Dulwich, southeast London, pleaded guilty to 22 offenses, including encouraging the rape of a child under 13, causing a child under 13 to engage in sexual activity and arranging the sexual abuse of a child, Sky News reported.
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According to the outlet, investigators found he was sharing abuse material on the dark web and had paid teenagers in India £65,000 to abuse younger children over a five-year period.
Smith was living in Nepal, where he worked at a school for most of that time but had previously worked in orphanages and for NGOs across India between 2007 and 2014.
