A former teacher at a school in Carshalton has been jailed for the sexual abuse of a child.
Gary Vigar was employed at Oaks Park High School in 2020 when he groomed a girl into sexual activity.
The 34-year-old initially denied any wrongdoing but on the second day of his trial he pleaded guilty to charges including sexual assault and inciting a child into sexual activity.
On Friday (February 6) he was sentenced to five years and seven months in prison by Judge Elizabeth Smaller, who told him “you only have yourself to blame, you have taken your life and blown it up”.
Croydon Crown Court heard that Vigar groomed the child over several months as they exchanged more than 2,000 messages online.
The pair would have sexual phone calls late at night when his wife had gone to bed, the court heard.
Vigar kissed the child on numerous occasions and made her touch his penis at least six times, prosecutor Rebecca Foulkes said.
The victim later told police: “I was scared that if I didn’t do something he asked... Don’t get me wrong, at the start I was taking part and was asking for it, but towards the end I didn’t really want it.
“He said he wanted to take my virginity, he always asked me to go to his house and I kept saying no.”
In a statement read at the sentencing hearing, the victim said: “Words don’t feel adequate to explain and describe the effect this abuse has had on me.”
She said she had spent many years of her life just trying to survive.
“I don’t want another innocent young person to live through that nightmare,” she said.
“This isn’t a form of revenge, this is just the justice that I deserve.”
The victim reported the abuse in 2021 but it wasn’t until four years later that the case came to trial.
The trial began in November last year with Vigar facing charges including rape, but mid-trial he entered guilty pleas to two charges of sexual assaulting of a child by touching, three charges of causing or inciting a child to engage in sexual activity and causing a person to engage in sexual activity without consent.
The pleas were accepted by the Crown Prosecution Service and charges of rape and sexual activity with a child which involved penetration were dropped.
The victim said: “The delayed court hearings, interviews and statements have collectively made these the worst years of my young life.”
Judge Smaller said it was a matter of regret that the case took so long to be dealt with.
It was said in Vigar’s defence that he is facing his offending “head-on” and has disclosed to his family and friends what he has pleaded guilty to.
Vigar has since “taken the bull by the horns” by seeking counselling to address his offending behaviour, the court heard.
Judge Smaller said that by deleting messages Vigar had taken steps to evade detection, both by his wife and police.
But the judge added that it was to his credit that he had finally admitted what he had done, saving the victim from the ordeal of being accused in court of lying.
Judge Smaller told him: “You have only yourself to blame. You have taken your life and blown it up.
“Your career as a teacher is over and more than that you have effected the lives of those close to you.”
She imposed a sentence of five years and seven months in prison – he will serve at least half before he is released on licence.
Judge Smaller also made him the subject of a Sexual Harm Prevention Order for eight years.
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