US Edition
'Brilliant' teacher accused of having sexual relationships with teenage pupils
Several women come forward to allege that David Wilkinson sexually abused them in 1980s
A "brilliant" English teacher credited with helping pupils go to Oxbridge universities was simultaneously conducting multiple sexual affairs with some of his teenage students, it has been alleged.
Several women have come forward to accuse David Wilkinson of sexually abusing them in the 1980s.
Kerry, who claimed she was only 15 when Mr Wilkinson first had sex with her, said she had recently realised in the light of the MeToo movement that someone she once saw as a first boyfriend had exploited and abused her. He had been more than twice her age at the time.
But The Telegraph's investigation into the case has found a sexist legal loophole is providing a get-out for many of those facing historical allegations relating to sex with underage girls, while there is no such obstacle to charging men who abused males under 16.
The Government is under pressure to use its proposed bill dealing with domestic abuse to amend the "misogynistic" loophole.
Dr Jonathan Rogers, a leading legal academic, said the disparity between the genders was a "huge problem" and added: "We prosecute men who seduced 15-year old boys quite happily, even if it happened in the 1990s, but cannot do the same with 15-year-old girls.
"The powers that be seem to assume that it is a minor problem… but this is really not so. Hundreds of offenders must surely have escaped any meaningful prosecution due to this."
The Telegraph has spoken to several women who accuse retired teacher Mr Wilkinson of having sex with them when they were at school more than 30 years ago.
The women hope their decision to go public may prompt others to re-evaluate historical relationships with authority figures such as teachers and question their legitimacy and legality.
Kerry said of Mr Wilkinson: "It wasn't love. My first experience of what I thought was love was something much more sinister and abusive and nefarious and exploitative.
"I think of him as almost evil, as a Svengali character who used his charisma and all of the tools at his disposal, literature and poetry, for sinister ends, to get what he wanted."
One of the women, who asked not to be named, had just turned 16 when Mr Wilkinson allegedly started having sex with her. He would have been 41. A third woman, Lucy, said she had been 18.
Mr Wilkinson, 72 – who taught English and General Studies at the school in Worcestershire – refused to acknowledge any relationships with his former students and declined to comment further.
Speaking from his home in Wales, he said: "This is obviously turning into a nightmare for me… I'm not going to say anything. Sorry."
The allegations against Mr Wilkinson have been reported to police.
However, the law makes prosecuting any man who had sex with a girl under the age of 16 in the 1980s difficult.
It did not become illegal for a person in a position of trust, such as a teacher, to have sex with someone under 18 in their care until much later, when the 2003 Sexual Offences Act came into force.
The prevailing legislation in the 1980s was the 1956 Sexual Offences Act, which made it illegal for an adult to have sex with a girl aged between 13 and 16.
But prosecutions had to be brought within a year of the offence being committed, and a House of Lords ruling in 2004 said police could not try and get around the limitation period by opting for a charge of indecent assault instead.
In a situation that will anger equality campaigners, there is no such legal impediment in cases involving teenage boys. Under the same 1956 Act, boys under the age of 16 cannot consent to sex.
Dr Rogers, co-deputy director at the Cambridge Centre for Criminal Justice at Cambridge University, said: "There's arguably a misogynist element as to why there was ever a time limit for under 16-year-old girls in the first place, but there was for girls and there never has been for boys under 16.
"A lot of these abusers make the girls believe they are in a loving relationship, but they can manipulate them in a lot of other ways to procure their silence.
"A lot of teenage girls don't expect to be believed by the police and of course they go back in their 30s, often after receiving counselling for various issues linked to their teenage experiences."
He said the limitation of a year on prosecutions should be changed retrospectively as part of the proposed Domestic Abuse Bill, rectifying an unfair situation.
According to Kerry, her abusive relationship with Mr Wilkinson continued for three years, during which time they allegedly had sex "hundreds and hundreds" of times, including in his office at the school.
Mr Wilkinson also offered her private tuition, ostensibly to help her get into Cambridge University, where he had studied. Her parents would drive her to his house and pay him for the lessons, which would be largely spent having sex, Kerry claimed.
Lucy also said she had sexual encounters with Mr Wilkinson on school property. "Sometimes we would kiss or fondle in his office, which was actually right next to the staff room," she said. "He was very much in a position of power. He was marking my work and determining my future."
According to Lucy, he was "quite careful" to keep the relationship secret at school but after hours would "prowl in his Land Rover and toot his horn" to alert her that he wanted to have sex or pass her notes telling her to wait for him in the attic of his house.
The woman who asked not to be named recalled similar behaviour, saying: "I used to have to hide in the footwell of his car. It sounds ridiculous now."
Mr Wilkinson managed to keep his activities secret and so was never formally disciplined over his behaviour by the school.
The two head teachers in charge whilst he was there told The Telegraph they had never heard the allegations.
One recalled Mr Wilkinson as "brilliant" and "one of the best teachers" he had known, saying he had been responsible for getting a string of students to Oxbridge.
Kevin O’Regan, who became head teacher in 1997 just after Mr Wilkinson left, said he had heard about an "incident" before 1985 but was told it had been "dealt with" before he took charge.
In 2018, after the MeToo movement exploded, Kerry reappraised her relationship with Mr Wilkinson and concluded that she had been groomed by him.
She decided to contact some of his other former students, who she suspected had been close to him and might have also had relationships with him.
Some of the women responded that they had and a strong pattern emerged, she said. "I wasn't special," she added. "There was this modus operandi that he used over and over again."