A RETIRED teacher pretended to be teenage girls online in order to indulge his perverted fantasies.

David Gallichan has been given a suspended sentence for possessing indecent images of child sex abuse.

Disgraced

The disgraced 63-year-old was put under a court order not to keep computers without software to allow the police to monitor his activities.

But Gallichan continued to use a laptop, where he discussed fantasies of sexual abuse with other adults and spoke to teenagers online.

At Hove Crown Court Judge David Rennie said that despite court orders to stop him, Gallichan’s behaviour was “persistent”.

The judge jailed him for a total of 18 months.

Natasha Dardashti, prosecuting, said Gallichan had attempted to speak with teenagers online after his previous conviction.

He kept a laptop computer without telling the police, and did not have the monitoring software installed.

Gallichan had indulged his fantasies about nudist camps with teenage boys.

Ms Dardashti said: “He set up profiles and characters which he was using for several years to engage with adults and young people in sexual conversations on line.

“He imagined being a daughter or stepdaughter and would pretend to be people to get them to talk with him sexually.

“When police had a warrant to search his home, he confessed and said he had hidden a laptop in an outdoor shed.”

Gallichan had claimed his sick conversations were only fantasies with other adults.

One fantasy online revealed a story about abusing a former pupil in a school where he worked in Abu Dhabi. The pupil had reportedly committed suicide.

Ms Dardashti said Gallichan: “Could not explain why he had spoken of the former pupil in those circumstances.”

Paul Luttman, defending, said Gallichan had sought to get help from the Lucy Faithful Foundation, a child protection charity, and taken “positive steps to address his behaviour”.

He said his client feared prison because his elderly parents in the Channel Islands are in their eighties and are unaware of his crimes.

Gallichan, of Haywards Heath Road, Balcombe, had been a teacher for 35 years before retiring in 2013.

Vulnerable

Judge Rennie told him: “I have seen various references from people who recognise the work you have done to overcome your paedophilic interests and activities.

“But your activities have gone on for years.

“I’m not sure you get this. It has potentially caused tremendous harm to young and vulnerable people, sucked into a world way beyond their means to understand.

“Your behaviour was persistent and required careful planning.

“Clearly a suspended sentence did not deter you, only immediate custody can be justified.”