Paedophile teacher and father-of-two jailed after pursuing online sexual relationships with teenage girls

A former teacher who groomed and then engaged in sexual activity with a 15-year-old girl he met online has been jailed. English teacher and married father John Ewan Myles, 36, from Leicestershire has been sentenced to more than six years in prison after admitting committing sex offences against children online by disguising himself as a teenager.

Officers began an investigation in April 2022 when the police received a report that Myles, who was working as a teacher at Ashby School had been engaging in sexual activity with the teenage girl. He was arrested at his home in north-west Leicestershire that month and a number of devices were recovered from the address including a phone, which was hidden under his bed.

The girl was identified and later interviewed by officers where she disclosed Myles first contacted her online giving her a fake name and saying he was 18 years old. They chatted online for a few months before Myles began sending sexual images of himself.

Examination of the devices found that Myles pursued an online sexual relationship with her and recorded numerous video calls where sexual activity was carried out. A video call between the two was also found whereby the girl could he heard saying she is 15 years old and on some of the videos, she was wearing her school uniform.

Myles was charged with numerous offences and pleaded guilty. While awaiting sentencing, he made a disclosure regarding further offences involving another girl under the same previously used alias name of Jamie Reid, stating on this occasion he was 17 years old. During conversations with her in which she disclosed her age, Myles turned the talk sexual and requested sexual images and videos from her and in return, he would send sexual images and videos of himself.

In total, Myles pleaded guilty to 18 charges for offences involving the two victims and was sentenced to six years and six months in prison at Leicester Crown Court today. He also pleaded guilty to a separate offence of possessing extreme pornographic image/images portraying an act of intercourse/oral sex with a dead/alive animal.

The court also heard that his marriage had since broken down, and he was only allowed supervised interaction with his own two children. He has also been places on the sex offender register for life and will be subject to a Sexual Harm Prevention Order for 15 years.

Detective Constable Helen Pape, the investigating officer, said: “Myles fully knew how old these girls were and how vulnerable they were using this to target and exploit them purely for his own sexual gratification. With the sheer volume of evidence weighed against him, Myles had little choice but to plead guilty. My only relief is that in admitting his crimes, despite the lasting affects it will have on them, they did not have to face a trial and have these terrible offences discussed in great detail at court. If you have also been a victim of offences by Myles, alias Jamie Reid, please report it to us. We have specially trained officers who will investigate your report while ensuring safeguarding is provided to the victims involved.”