Teaching assistant jailed for sexually abusing vulnerable children may have 'well over 81' victims
15 May 2025, 20:27
A teaching assistant has been jailed for over seven years for sexually abusing six children but may have “well over 81” victims with special educational needs and disabilities.
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Daniel Clarke, of Bloxwich near Walsall, was sentenced to seven years and six months at Wolverhampton Crown Court after pleading guilty to sexual offences against six vulnerable children.
However, West Midlands Police believe the 28-year-old could be one of the most prolific sex offenders of recent times and have begun a major investigation.
Speaking on behalf of police, prosecuting barrister Daniel Oscroft said Clarke would almost certainly be charged with further offences against possibly more than 81 victims.
The defendant had worked as a teaching assistant at a school in Solihull and, separately, as a personal assistant to several children, the court heard.
One mother, who paid Clarke £3,500 to work as an assistant to her child, told the court she was left feeling she had been "paying him to abuse her son", who has contemplated suicide.
The boy was one of the "particularly vulnerable" children, all of whom had additional needs and disabilities, that Clarke "abused his position of trust" against, the court heard.
At a hearing in February, Clarke pleaded guilty to offences including making indecent photographs of a child, assaulting children by touching, and inciting children to engage in sexual activity with no penetration.
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Sentencing Clarke, Judge Michael Chambers KC said: "Those who have special educational needs are vulnerable and require protection and support.
"Both they and their close relatives are entitled to expect such protection and support from persons such as yourself, who are entrusted to look after them.
"What you did constitutes a gross breach of trust and will have caused significant psychological harm to those concerned."
The investigation into Clarke, which began in October last year after police received reports he had been in an inappropriate relationship with a child, revealed he had abused children by taking them back to his home.
He suggested they play "truth or dare games" and on one occasion, two victims were dared to take off their clothes, before being stood back to back naked and exposed to pornography, the court heard.
"He told them not to talk about what had happened to anybody else," prosecuting barrister Daniel Oscroft said.
As part of his personal assistant role, Clarke would take children out for day trips and record them in public toilets using a portable camera, the court heard.
Officers were later said to have discovered a large number of devices from Clarke's address, including phones, laptops, "spy cameras", internal CCTV type equipment and storage devices.
Clarke’s identity was initially withheld from the public over fears publication of their wider investigation could prejudice future jurors.
But Judge Chambers has now decided to lift the restriction in its entirety, agreeing future proceedings were neither pending or imminent.
