A former deputy head of Prince George and Princess Charlotte’s first school has been jailed for 12 years after he paid a teenager to abuse children in India and send him footage of the attacks.

Matthew Smith, 35, was appointed as deputy head of pastoral care at Thomas’s Preparatory School in Battersea in September last year.

He worked in orphanages and NGOs across India between 2007 and 2014 before taking a teaching job at a school in Nepal.

NCA investigators found Smith offered a teenage boy in India £65,398 to abuse children over a five-year period and asked him to send him footage of the attacks.

Smith also accessed dark web sites and forums dedicated to child sexual abuse.

He moved back to the UK in July 2022 and began working at the south London school where he was a deputy head teacher and head of pastoral care before his arrest in November.

Officers found more than 120,000 indecent images of children on his laptop, SD card and on his phone.

Smith used the encrypted app Telegram to receive and share sexual images and films of children, Southwark Crown Court heard.

None of the offences related to children at the prestigious school, which costs upwards of £20,000 per year.

Smith, of East Dulwich, southeast London, admitted 17 counts, including three of encouraging the rape of a child under 13, three of causing a child under 13 to engage in sexual activity and arranging the sexual abuse of a child.

He also admitted three counts of making indecent images – in relation to more than 120,000 photos, including more than 10,000 of the most serious category.

The charges related to the suspected sexual abuse of children as young as seven in India via the internet between 2017 and 2022.

Last November he admitted causing or inciting the sexual abuse of a child under 13, distributing indecent images of children and three counts of making IIOC in categories A-C.

Judge Martin Griffith jailed Smith for 12 years and told him: “I consider there is a significant risk of serious harm occasioned to members of the public by the commission of further offences by you.”

Earlier Martin Hooper, prosecuting, said: “He was a teacher in Nepal prior to that [Thomas’s Prep] in 2017 to 2022.

“He began volunteering from 2007 onwards with children aged between two to 15 years old.

“There is a relevance to that, as some material showed exploitation of at least one child from that orphanage.

“On 6 November 2022, police executed a warrant at the defendant’s home in east Dulwich. The defendant was there using a computer.

“They seized a number of electronic devices, most importantly a black Dell laptop.

“On the black Dell laptop a number of tabs were open which involved indecent images of children. Also Telegram, an encrypted messaging application that police were able to examine.”

During police interview, Smith said: “Clearly I have an addiction, probably in this area. I do not like the person I am, I would give anything to be normal – anything.”

Mr Hooper added: “Asking if there was any relevance to his employment history, in his current employment he was quite emphatic no, but other schools he had been involved in he didn’t answer.

“After police fully downloaded and obtained the material this case involves, they found the defendant was soliciting indecent images of children, both still and moving, and the physical exploitation of children.

“The defendant transferred just under £7,500 for those acts to be performed and recorded.”

Smith also said he would pay children’s school fees in return for sexual images and videos.

“In total seen on the defendant’s black Dell laptop were a very large number of images.”

This included 11,000 Category A images, over 16,000 Category B and 93,000 Category C images. In addition, over 2000 prohibited images were found.

“These were pseudo images, either cartoon or CGI-type images.”

Mr Hooper added: “We say the intended harm was extreme. There was planning, grooming and isolation of the victims as well.”

Sarah Vine, defending, said: “He has written personally to every single member of his close family and friends, to explain to them exactly what has happened.

“To express that he does not expect so much as a response, but to apologise to them for the distress that this news may well have caused them.

“Mr Smith is prepared to accept his offending and he very much understands his life over the next substantial period to be within prison.”

A spokesman for the school said:”We have been shocked and appalled beyond measure by this matter and are grateful for the work of the police and courts in bringing this man to account.

“Mr Smith’s employment at the school, which commenced in September 2022, was terminated with immediate effect when the school first learned of the charges against him in November.

“While the National Crime Agency has confirmed that none of the matters under investigation related to the school or its pupils, these deplorable actions constitute an unforgivable breach of trust and our thoughts are with those who have been impacted or damaged by them.

“As always, we remain absolutely committed to the ongoing safety and wellbeing of our pupils and our whole school community.”

Helen Dore, Senior Officer of the National Crime Agency, said: “Matthew Smith is a prolific offender and master manipulator, who coerced young men into abusing children on his behalf.

“He constantly sought out opportunities to gain access to children, but was adept at hiding his sexual interest in them. He conducted his offending while working as a teacher and head of pastoral care – a deep betrayal of the trust placed in him.

“It’s clear Smith has absolutely no empathy for his victims and the harm he has caused them. He presents a very real and significant risk to children, but this investigation has ensured he will spend a long time in prison.

“The NCA is committed to operating online and overseas, working with global partners to ensure that children are safeguarded and offenders like Smith are brought to justice.”

Earlier she said: “While conducting his offending, Smith worked at a school in Nepal, then became a deputy head teacher and head of pastoral care in the UK, so his offending is a deep betrayal of the trust placed in him.

“The NCA is dedicated to operating online and overseas, working with global partners to ensure that children are safeguarded and offenders like Smith are brought to justice.’

Claire Brinton, Specialist Prosecutor in the CPS’s Organised Child Sexual Abuse Unit, said: “Matthew Smith’s crimes are particularly disturbing given his role as a primary school teacher entrusted with the responsibility of caring for and safeguarding children.

“Thousands of images and videos were recovered from his devices which showed an appalling catalogue of sexual abuse being perpetrated on children.

“Smith offered individuals payments for indecent images to gratify his own sexual desires, which resulted in the horrifying abuse of young children in India.

“This conviction sends a clear message that the CPS, working alongside the NCA and international partners, will work to bring to justice to those who sexually abuse and exploit children, wherever that abuse takes place.”

Smith was jailed for 12 years and he is also subject to an indefinite sexual harm prevention order. He was also placed on the sex offenders’ register for life.