Birmingham Evening Mail

Teacher jailed in sex case

By SUE HARTLEY

A housemaster at a Midlands boarding school, who sexually abused teenage boy pupils, was jailed for two years at Dudley Crown Court.

Allen Lyndon Farr (44) of Aldersley Road, Wolverhampton, admitted indecently assaulting four boys at the school between September 1983 and October last year.

Mr. Richard Griffiths-Jones prosecuting said Farr's first victim was a 16-year-old prefect.

Farr "flattered" the boy into making visits to his study where the assaults took place, said Mr. Griffiths-Jones.

He said the boy had been revolted but had been frightened of the housemaster's authority. The teenager told police that he had been assaulted between 15 and 20 times.

Two 16-year-old boys had been assaulted in their beds, Mr. Griffiths-Jones said.

One teenager later told police, "I did not want to do it, but he was my house tutor."

The court heard that the fourth boy, a 15-year-old, went to Farr for help and advice after being sexually abused during the school holiday.

But on the pretence of helping him, he was assaulted by Farr in his study, who told him it was "all part of growing up", said Mr. Griffiths-Jones.

Mr. Christopher Hodson, defending, said Farr was highly regarded by parents, the school chaplain, a fellow teacher and two magistrates who had written letters of support to the court on his behalf.

He said Farr had been seriously injured in an accident in 1970, which could have released "a repressed form of homosexuality."

"He has maintained that he thought what he was doing was helping him to get closer to the boys. But he now realises that it was a lack of judgment on his behalf."

Affected

"This is not a homosexual housemaster, but a man whose judgment and control were affected by a serious accident which left him in intensive care for three days back in 1970," added Mr. Hodson.

Judge John Evans, QC, told Farr: "There must be some vindication of the feelings of outrage of parents of boys at this boarding school. They are entitled to think their youngsters are being looked after and not abused."