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A perverted school caretaker who secretly watched young girls undress while they were taking part in a dance show has been jailed. Stuart Martin, 50, watched girls as young as 11 on a CCTV camera, while they changed costumes between sets at a school production in East Lancashire in early 2023. Martin, who was the school's site manager, agreed with the dance group teacher that the children could get changed in the corridor as it would be quicker. But he did not disclose that there was a camera in the corridor. He was only caught when the school's IT manager saw that one of the terminals was reviewing CCTV of that corridor, rewinding and pausing it for 20 minutes. The IT manager informed the school's the headteacher and regional estates manager. When the regional estates manager arrived at the school, he told Martin there had been a safeguarding issue, to which the caretaker replied: "That's worrying." Martin was arrested that evening but denied any wrongdoing, claiming he had reviewed the CCTV because he was worried the dance group were causing damage. Martin, of Preston Old Road, Blackburn, Lancs., was sentenced to 14 months in prison. Preston Crown Court heard the majority of the performers in the show were girls under the age of 16, and the age of the girls Martin watched was between 11 and 14. Sentencing Martin, Judge Ian Unsworth, said he had disgusted the parents of the victims. He said: "It's clear the school and the trust took their responsibilities as to CCTV very seriously indeed. "You signed a CCTV agreement in November 2022, three months before your admitted offending. "Within that, you agreed to comply with various conditions, including agreeing to report any safeguarding or GDPR concerns to the IT team. "You agreed that whilst using the system, you would comply with all trust policies and procedures. Your actions showed a complete and flagrant disregard for those rules. "When you were challenged by the IT manager, you immediately sought to lie your way out of it. Judge Unsworth also said: "The statements from the parents speak in very strong terms of the disgust they feel at your actions." One parent said in a victim personal statement: "He should not be able to walk around thinking he's got away with it. "I hope he's learned his lesson and I hope he never does this to anyone else." Defending Martin, Emma Kehoe, said the defendant had "absolutely learned his lesson" and has "started his own rehabilitation by admitting what he has done." She added the offences were committed more than two-and-a-half years ago and there has been no other offending since. Martin was also given a sexual harm prevention order imposed for a period of 10 years, and must sign the sex offenders' register for 10 years.
