Shamed grandfather David Latimer's life is in ruins after he was convicted of indecently assaulting a teenage pupil at the school where he was a caretaker, writes Phil Clee.

The 50-year-old, who was site manager at an Abingdon school, knows his crime has cost him his job, his reputation and probably his second marriage.

Latimer, of Bennett Road, Faringdon, was sentenced to three years' probation at Oxford Crown Court this week after admitting the indecency last May.

The court heard that the girl, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, later tried to take an overdose but survived unharmed. Latimer previously denied two further charges of sexual assault and of raping the pupil, now 14, and was cleared of these charges.

But Judge Mary-Jane Mowat, sentencing him, said: "You were a caretaker in a position of trust towards children, as much as any teacher would be.

"It is the prosecution's case that the girl made the first overtures. That is not my opinion, but it is the way the prosecution has put the case.

"You, of course, should have responded by sending the girl away and having nothing to do with her, but you did not, and you committed an assault upon her in a way which was quite unforgivable." Judge Mowat also ordered that Latimer register as a sex offender and attend the Thames Valley Project, which works with convicted sex offenders.

Tony McGeorge, prosecuting, said Latimer used to oversee detentions, which involved pupils being given useful tasks to do around the school, and this was how he met the girl.

Latimer helped to set up and run a school disco which the girl was supposed to be attending.

Mr McGeorge said the girl went into a workshop where Latimer was smoking a cigarette and performed a sexual act on him.

On another occasion, Mr McGeorge said a similar incident happened. Jane Evans, defending, said Latimer realised he had "behaved totally inappropriately" and had "disgraced himself".

She said he had no training in dealing with youngsters, and until this incident had never been in trouble before. David Latimer worked at the school for seven years and lived in a bungalow on site. He says he is bitter about the "lack of support" he received from the head teacher and staff because of what happened.

Latimer - who has four grown-up sons from his first marriage and another son by his second wife - spoke exclusively to the Oxford Mail at his rented home in Faringdon.

He said: "It's wrecked my life. I lost my job and my credibility. I'm estranged from my second wife because of all the stress of this. I don't know if it's over or not. I was building my career up to take the school into the next Millennium, and all that is lost. My wife has asked me so many times why I allowed this to happen. It's completely ruined my life. There's no other word for it.

It is very sad because the most damaging part of this is to the young girl herself. She's been very stupid and caused me a lot of damage. She's tried to experiment, but the end result is that never again will I be able to work with young kids.

She started to get to know me quite well, but it wasn't a relationship on first-name terms. I always insisted on being called Sir by the kids under my charge.

The lads would come around to my workshop during lunchtimes and evenings after school. She was part of the gang and was there once a week at least over six or seven weeks. I used to maintain the lads' bikes and she started leaving her bike in the workshop.

The night of the disco I opened up the school at 6.45pm. I met her and a couple of friends and they went to the disco. I went to play pool with a couple of community service lads in the sixth form social area. She came along with them to play pool and then went off with one of the other lads. Later she came back and did something which totally embarrassed me and the other two lads who were with me. I told her to cut it out, and the disco finished at 10pm.

I went to my workshop and she came in and came on to me

and undid my trousers.

After that, I requested her to leave." The father of the teenage girl indecently assaulted by school caretaker David Latimer told the Oxford Mail how his family had been torn apart by the crime.

He says: "Three years' probation is not enough. It's disgusting. Someone in Latimer's position, immaterial of the actions that led to what happened, should have kept himself to himself.

"It should have been a custodial sentence. The message being sent out here is wrong."

The father - who cannot be identified for legal reasons - said his daughter had become withdrawn and adds: "I am sorry Latimer's marriage has broken up, but our family is broken too. It's affected our daughter in a very deep way. "She's no longer the little girl that would wake me up with a cup of tea on Sundays, or snuggle up to us on the settee in front of the telly.

"She was always a trusting, open person. Even as a ten-year-old she was at ease holding an adult conversation. Now she just does not have conversations with adults because she does not feel she can communicate with adults without them doubting her.

"My daughter is angry. She is like a timebomb waiting to explode because she feels no-one believed her side of the story. She has always said since it happened, 'Dad, no-one believes me. I am being blamed for it'. "We will never know the real facts, but it is irrelevant, because a 13-year-old girl should be safe. She does not expect to end up in a situation like this.

"He was a man in a position of trust and he slowly and systematically abused it. He befriended our daughter, built her confidence in him, then abused the trust."

The indecent assault came to light when the girl, now aged 14, took an overdose. She survived unharmed.

Her father says the court ordeal had ended his daughter's ambition to be a lawyer.

He added: "This has shaken her confidence in the legal system. She wants to join the Navy."

Story date: Thursday 02 December

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.