Music teacher jailed for abusing schoolgirls

Sentencing 38-year-old Jonathan Hutton at Antrim Crown Court and ordering him to serve half his sentence in jail and half in custody, His Honour Judge Kinney said while he knew the sentence “will not bring an end to the trauma and distress [of the victims]...I hope that this will close a chapter for them and allow them to move forward with the rest of their lives”.

With the disgraced Londonderry music teacher appearing at court by videolink from prison, the judge told him he had “preyed on vulnerable young girls to satisfy his own perverse sexual preferences” and that in relation to both victims, “I’m satisfied that he set out to groom them, to gain their confidence to enable him to commit these pernicious offences”, a result of which they had “their childhood torn from them”.

He added that Hutton was so driven to carry out his acts that the fact that he was on police bail for having indecent images of children had not deterred him from abusing his victims.

At an earlier hearing, Hutton, previously from Papworth Avenue in Londonderry but now with an address c/o Maghaberry Prison, entered guilty pleas to a total of 18 sex offences committed over six-and-a-half years between March 2013 and September 2019.

In relation to the first victim, Hutton confessed to nine offences including eight of sexual activity with a child under 16 committed on dates between March 31, 2013 and September 13, 2015.

In relation to his second victim, he admitted grooming, sexual activity and engaging in sexual activity in the presence of a child on dates between September 30, 2018 and September 2, 2019 and, in addition, Hutton admitted six counts of making or taking indecent images of children.

Summarising the case during his sentencing remarks, Judge Kinney said the first victim was 13 when Hutton was tutoring her but the grooming began when she started doing work for him.

Initially paid in cash, Hutton also bought her clothes and gifts and while the abuse began with inappropriate touching, it progressed to sex acts including sexual intercourse, with Hutton using his mobile phone to record many of the incidents.

The abuse happened “nearly every week”, said the judge, adding that Hutton told the schoolgirl to “start taking the contraceptive pill”, giving her a card so that she could spend his money.

Turning to the second victim, Judge Kinney outlined how Hutton specifically targeted the 13-year-old girl on Snapchat, telling her that he was 20 when in fact he was actually 34.

Having gained her trust, Hutton got the girl’s mobile number and he began to send her sexual messages, using FaceTime on one occasion “to expose himself”.

The judge said she was abused in Hutton’s car but even though she felt that he “pressurised her and made negative comments to her, she was reluctant to make full disclosure”.

In addition to the jail sentence, Hutton was made the subject of a 10-year Sexual Offences Prevention Order, banned from working with children and ordered to sign the police sex offenders register for the rest of his life.