British school headmaster jailed for sex abuse

LONDON - A former headmaster of a boarding school in Britain has been jailed for 21 years for sadistic sexual abuse of minor pupils.

Derek Slade, 61, former headmaster of St George’s School, was convicted of more than 50 offences including ­indecent assault and possessing child pornography, the Daily Express reported Tuesday.

Judge Peter Fenn of the Ipswich Crown Court said Slade’s 12 minor victims had “lost days of childhood ­innocence” and seen their lives “seriously damaged”.

Slade used his ­position to beat boys and molest them between 1978 and 1983. He forced his victims to wait on him and his adult male friends at “midnight feasts” before assaulting them.

He would select five boys at a time to present themselves in their school uniform. After the meal, the men would choose a boy and take him away for sex.

Slade also meted out “brutal” ­beatings, hitting boys with a slipper, a table tennis bat and his bare hand, and gave “kickings” to those who upset him. He also ordered pupils to write essays on “whackings I have had”, the court heard.

Several victims were present in the court and some wept and one applauded as Slade was sentenced and led away.

Slade set up the school for ­children of servicemen in 1978. It was initially based in Wicklewood, Norfolk, but moved to Great ­Finborough, ­Suffolk, in 1980. Slade left the school in 1983.

Police also found over 4,400 child porn images on his computer and audio tapes that Slade had made of boys being beaten with descriptions in Greek.