'Gross breach of trust': Walsall teaching assistant jailed for sexual abuse of disabled boys in his care

Hours after unmasking Clarke by allowing the press to reveal his identity, Justice Michael Chambers KC sentenced him to seven and a half years.

Branding Clarke "a danger to young, vulnerable boys" Judge Chambers also placed the 28-year-old paedophile on the sexual harm register for the rest of his life. 

Clarke, of Signal Grove, Bloxwich, pleaded guilty to nine counts of various sexual abuse and to making indecent images of children. The charges concern Clarke's abuse of six young boys between May 2013 and September last year, when a complaint helped bring an end to his crimes.

When detectives raided his home they found sickening videos of his abuse and twisted mementoes of each of his victims.

Clarke also befriended the disabled boys' families whilst grooming them sexually. He charged some more than £3,000 for personal care. 

 Judge Chambers told Clarke: "Your victims' close relatives deserve to see you punished for your gross breach of trust. I am sentencing you for a number of serious sexual offences against vulnerable youngsters. Your crimes caused psychological harm to your victims. 

"Your crimes were compounded by recording moving images of what you did for future sexual pleasure." 

He added: "You worked at a school for children with severe needs, you also worked as a personal assistant for which their families paid you extremely well."

"You would take them out on activities and then you invited them back to your home. There you would play games with the children and force them to take their clothes off. They talk of you forcing them to draw pictures of penises on each other as you watched for sexual gratification. 

"You also gave some of them alcohol. These were very vulnerable children and young people."

Clarke built close relationships with all his victims, leading them to feel guilty, ashamed, confused and even suicidal after the investigation began into his crimes. The families' victim impact statements revealed the devastation Clarke wrought, with parents feeling guilty for "paying him to abuse my child". 

Though Clarke showed remorse during the pre-sentence report, due to his outlandish assertion that he was not sexually attracted to children, the probation service authors classified Clarke as presenting a "high risk of causing significant harm to young, vulnerable children and adults".

Due to his early guilty pleas Clarke was given 25 per cent off his sentence, which would have been ten years behind bars after a trial. However, Justice Chambers ordered him to serve four and a half years on licence upon his release from prison.

West Midlands Police is currently investigating Clarke's conduct at previous work places and relationships. A prosecutor previously revealed that detectives have started interviewing a possible 81 victims.