A SUPPLY teacher has been found guilty of sexually assaulting a number of young schoolgirls.

Johnathan Clayton faced 13 charges on a total of six young girls at the same school over a six-week period last year.

Jurors heard how he had also been accused of molesting a pupil under 11 at a school in County Durham in 2017, but the case against him was dropped.

Clayton bowed his head in the dock as the verdicts were returned while members of the young victims’ families sobbed.

Following the verdict, Vision for Education, the company which supplied Clayton to schools across the region, confirmed it had carried all the correct checking procedures and clearly blamed the school in County Durham for withholding information about his previous court case.

Twenty-seven-year-old Clayton, of Carlton, near Stockton, was accused of touching one young girl’s genitals when he was helping to get her dressed after a PE session while others told jurors how he inappropriately touched them on various parts of their bodies.

A number of the young victims told Teesside Crown Court how they became scared of ‘creepy’ and ‘weird’ teacher who often spoke to them in a ‘baby’ voice and needlessly help them to get dressed.

The court was told he carried out the assaults over a six-week period in 2019 on six girls aged between seven and 11 – the alleged offences are involved children from a school away from the Stockton area but can't be identified for risk of identifying any of the alleged victims.

Earlier the jury heard how the defendant used his position as a supply teacher to target the young girls by isolating them before touching them inappropriately.

Richard Bennett, prosecuting, described Mr Clayton as a “charismatic opportunist with a propensity to take advantage of young girls”.

The court heard children initially found Mr Clayton "funny and kind", but that his behaviour changed over time.

During his trial at Teesside Crown Court, Clayton admitted that he would give pupils hugs, help them to get dressed and let them sit on his knee but maintains there was nothing sexual about his behaviour.

Detective Constable Gillian Gowling, the North Yorkshire Police officer who led the investigation, said: “Jonathan Clayton is a very manipulative individual who used his trusted position as a teacher to touch these young and vulnerable girls for his own sexual gratification.

“He displayed an extremely worrying pattern of behaviour where he would take advantage of situations that arose at school to put his hands on the victims. This was usually when the youngsters were upset and he carried out the abuse under the guise of providing comforting.

"There were also occasions when he supposedly ‘helped’ the victims to put on or adjust items of clothing, including tights, when they clearly did not require such help.”

DC Gowling added: “Due to the young age of the victims involved, it has been a complex and sensitive investigation. I hope that the outcome at court will help these very brave girls and their families to move on from this terrible experience, safe in the knowledge that justice has been served against the man responsible and he will never be allowed to teach children again.”

The Vision for Education spokesperson said: “We take our safeguarding responsibilities very seriously, ensuring that all statutory safeguarding checks are carried out for every candidate and references are obtained from previous schools where candidates have worked.

“In this instance, all of the statutory checks relating to the candidate were clear but information relating to the previous allegations was withheld from us and, instead, the school where the first allegations were made expressly confirmed that the candidate was suitable to work with children and that they would recommend the candidate for employment.

“The candidate was immediately removed from our supply register once we were made aware of the current allegations and we worked closely with the police and local authority throughout their investigation. Our thoughts are with the victims and their families, who have shown immense bravery throughout this investigation and trial.”

Richard Crane, Durham County Council's head of education and skills, defended the actions of the school involved in the original allegations against Clayton.

He said: "All our schools have clear procedures in place for when allegations are made against staff. In this case, appropriate steps were taken by the school and relevant agencies were informed as soon as an allegation was made.

"The school complied fully with a police investigation prior to criminal proceedings being discontinued by the Crown Prosecution Service and a not guilty verdict recorded.

"Having considered that verdict and government guidance on giving references in such circumstances, appropriate information was supplied through the reference process as well as to the Teaching Regulation Authority and the Disclosure and Barring Service."

Clayton was remanded in custody and will return to court to be sentenced on February 26.