Deputy headteacher jailed for raping and sexually abusing child with her partner

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A deputy headteacher has been jailed for 13 years and four months after she and her partner filmed themselves raping and sexually abusing a child.

Julie Morris was the safeguarding lead at St George’s Central C of E Primary School in Wigan. She and her partner, David Morris, filmed themselves abusing and raping a girl under the age of 13 in a series of videos.

In a hearing on Wednesday, Morris pleaded guilty to 18 offences, including two counts of rape, nine counts of inciting a child under the age of 13 to engage in sexual activity, and two of engaging in sexual activity in the presence of a child.

She also admitted three counts of taking indecent images of a child, one count of engaging in sexual communication with a child and one count of possessing indecent images of a child.

David Morris pleaded guilty to 34 offences at an earlier hearing. He has been jailed for 16 years, with an extended licence period of four years.

Liverpool Crown Court heard that the videos showed Julie Morris giggling as the abuse took place.

The offences are unrelated to Julie Morris’s employment at the school in Wigan.

Prosecutor John Wyn Williams said the couple met on a dating app in 2016. They met after separating from their partners, and their relationship “quickly became intensely sexual”.

Mr Wyn Williams said: “The communication between them became graphic and depraved which led to some of their sexual fantasies becoming a reality.”

He added that after seizing a phone during a search warrant, police found a conversation about sexual abuse of children involving Morris.

After his arrest, he was cautioned and released and more devices were seized, which revealed recordings of rape and sexual abuse.

Mr Wyn Williams said both defendants were arrested the following day, adding: “They were on their way to the Lake District in a camper van with £10,000 in their possession.”

Officers looked through 175,000 pages of messages between the pair. They also created a group chat with the victim where they talked about how they planned to abuse her.

David Morris pleaded guilty at an earlier hearing to seven counts of rape, and 13 counts of causing or inciting a child under 13 to engage in sexual activity.

He also pleaded guilty to two counts of engaging in sexual activity in the presence of a child, taking indecent images, of categories A, B and C, possessing and distributing indecent images, two counts of engaging in sexual communications with a child, three counts of voyeurism, possession of an extreme pornographic image and possession of a prohibited image of a child.

The court heard Morris would also take pictures of other children, which were not indecent, and would send them to her partner to “feed his predilection to sexually abusing young children”.

Judge Andrew Menary said: “Every now and again you see cases, the circumstances of which are almost beyond belief. This is one of those cases. It demonstrates that human depravity really knows no depths.”

In an interview, Morris admitted the offences but claimed the victim had wanted to take part.

Judge Menary said: “That last statement is breath-taking in its inappropriateness.”

Paul Becker, defending Morris, said she had “lost everything in life”, including her reputation, career and home.

He said: “She was held in high regard prior to her offending.”

He said that when she met Morris she was at a “low ebb” after she discovered her husband of 15 years had been unfaithful.

Mairead Neeson, senior prosecutor at the CPS, said the case was one of the worst she had seen in her career, adding: “The descriptions of what they did are so horrific that when I finished reading them. I burst into tears.

“It’s a young child whose innocence has been stolen.”

Speaking outside court, Detective Chief Inspector Bev Hyland said: “What makes this case even more concerning is the fact that Julie Morris held a position of trust as a teacher, she held the role of safeguarding lead, and yet she saw fit in her own personal life to completely disregard all of the responsibilities and the trust that her role held.”

Additional reporting from agencies