A female teacher neglected and ill-treated boys while her husband sexually abused them, The Argus can reveal.

Sussex Police confirmed that Gillian St Claire, 56, and her husband Ian St Claire, 57, were guilty of “historic sex offences”.

Gillian, who Sussex Police confirmed was a “qualified teacher, taught at schools in East Sussex.

At Lewes Crown Court she was convicted of two offences of illtreating and neglecting a boy in Eastbourne between 1982 and 1992 and another such offence against another boy in Bexhill between 1984 and 1995.

Her husband was convicted of 16 offences of indecent assault, gross indecency and attempted buggery of a boy in Bexhill and Eastbourne between 1979 and 1993.

An East Sussex County Council spokesman said: “We can confirm that Gillian St Claire was employed by East Sussex County Council as a teacher between 2001 and 2003.

“The offences of which she has been convicted obviously predate that period by some time and none of them are related to her work.”

Complex investigation

Her husband was given an eightyear jail term. Mrs St Claire received a two-and-a-half year sentence.

The pair, of Hengist Close, Eastbourne, were sentenced on Thursday.

Investigating officer Detective Constable Martyn Milligan said: “This was a complex investigation in which we uncovered systematic abuse over many years affecting two vulnerable boys, even into their adulthood.

“The offending was summed up in specimen charges which covered a whole period of abuse.

“This was reported to us in 2011, long after the offending had ceased, but we were still able to help achieve justice for the victims, and this sends a clear message that anyone who feels they have been victim of such offending can contact us in confidence at anytime, and their concerns will be taken seriously.”