Former contestant on The Voice jailed after sharing fantasies about sexual abuse of pupils
A school music teacher who once appeared on BBC talent show The Voice has been jailed after “readily and enthusiastically” sharing fantasies about sexually abusing pupils online.
Paul Rajasegaram (pictured), 33, who failed to get past his blind audition singing Fine China by Chris Brown on the show in 2014, was sentenced to a total of 27 months’ imprisonment on Wednesday.
Southwark Crown Court heard that he boasted “I teach kids” in chats with other paedophiles and in one message showed an image of the young son of a celebrity, who he spoke about raping.
With the username London_boylover69, he shared child abuse images of the most serious kind over Skype between June 2014 and March 2015, involving children as young as three.
Judge Gregory Perrins jailed Rajasegaram and handed him a sexual harm prevention order on Wednesday after he pleaded guilty to three counts of making indecent images of children and two counts of distributing such images at an earlier hearing.
“Compared to some cases, you were not in possession of a hugely significant quantity of material,” the judge told him.
“What you were viewing, sharing and storing were images, however, of real instances of horrific sexual abuse.
“At the time, you were a secondary school teacher. What is especially concerning is that you readily and enthusiastically engaged in conversations about the sexual abuse of children who were in your care.
“The order I am going to impose today means you will never be able to teach again.”
The judge said Rajasegaram was “obviously someone with a sexual interest in children” but there was “no suggestion” he had ever tried to act on it.
Prosecutor Leo Seelig said Rajasegaram was arrested at a secondary school in London on January 4 2018 by officers from the National Crime Agency (NCA).
A laptop was seized in a search of his home in Marylebone, central London, which was found to contain indecent pictures and videos, with 11 of the worst kind, including a video of an eight-year-old boy being raped.
Rajasegaram, dressed in a dark suit, white shirt and dark tie, blew a kiss to his mother, who was sitting in the public gallery with his partner, as he was taken down to the cells.
The court heard he had sought to address his offending through the Lucy Faithfull Foundation child protection charity, which helps internet offenders and people at risk of committing a crime.
Liam Loughlin, defending, said: “He does accept he has a sexual interest in children, he does want help.”
NCA operations manager Martin Ludlow said: “Rajasegaram was a significant risk to children, and as a teacher had access to young boys whom he was sexually attracted to.
“He sought out child abuse images and exchanged them with others. It is easy to forget that behind every sexual abuse image is a child whose life has been torn apart by exploitation, with men like Rajasegaram fuelling the demand for this horrendous material.
“Protecting children remains a top priority for the NCA and we won’t stop in our pursuit of those individuals who pose a threat to them.”
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