Primary school teacher raped girl in hotel room after asking to be her 'sugar daddy'

A paedophile primary school teacher raped a schoolgirl in a hotel - then spent £500 on her in a toy shop. Simon Murch met his victim online and she told him she was aged 18, when in fact she was under 13, a court was told.

The 55-year-old asked her to send him intimate pictures of her and they arranged to meet at The Tollgate Hotel in Blurton, near Stoke-on-Trent. Murch picked her up in his car a short distance from her house, with a prosecutor telling a court he would have known at that stage she was underage.

Stoke-on-Trent Crown Court heard she stayed in the car while he booked a room before they went inside. After raping her, he took her to a Smyths toy shop and spent £500 on her.

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The court heard the case came to light after the girl told her teacher she had a 'sugar daddy'. Murch was arrested and has now been jailed for seven-and-a-half years, with an extended licence period of a year, reports Stoke-on-Trent Live.

Prosecutor Tim Harrington said he contacted the victim on WhatsApp last year after their communication began on a website. Mr Harrington said: "He asked if she wanted him to be her sugar daddy. She told him she was 18 and doing her A-levels. He asked her to send pictures. She sent videos of herself performing a sex act.

"They arranged to meet in Stoke-on-Trent. He booked a room at The Tollgate Hotel. At that stage he may not have known her true age. He asked if she was on the pill. He picked her up in his car a short distance from her house.

"As soon as they met he would have known she was underage. He went in to book the room on his own. She stayed in the car. He did not want to cause alarm to anybody. It would have been plain to anybody