Ex-headteacher at Prince George’s London prep school sentenced for child sex crimes

The former deputy headteacher at the London primary school attended by Prince George and Princess Charlotte was convicted of paying tens of thousands of dollars for photos and videos of children being sexually abused.

Matthew Smith — who worked at the ritzy Thomas’s Preparatory School — was sentenced to 12 years in prison this week for paying more than $85,000 for sexual images of children as young as seven, according to the South West News Service.

The conviction of the 35-year-old former teacher left staff at the school “shocked and appalled beyond measure,” a school spokesperson said.

The $25,000-a-year school, located in Battersea, southwest London, said that Smith has not worked at the school since charges had been brought against him.

The spokesperson emphasized Smith’s brief tenure at the school — just around eight weeks.

“Mr. Smith’s employment at the school, which commenced in September 2022, was terminated with immediate effect when the school first learned of the charges against him in November,” the school said.

“While the National Crime Agency has confirmed that none of the matters under investigation related to the school or its pupils, these deplorable actions constitute an unforgivable breach of trust and our thoughts are with those who have been impacted or damaged by them,” the statement continued.

Thomas’s Prep said it is “absolutely committed to the ongoing safety and wellbeing of our pupils and our whole school community.”

Smith, who is originally from East Dulwich, southeast London, had pleaded guilty to 22 offenses, including encouraging the rape of a child under 13, causing a child under 13 to engage in sexual activity and arranging the sexual abuse of a child, according to Sky News.

Investigators learned that the former teacher had paid teenagers in India more than $82,000 to abuse younger children over a five-year period and had shared videos and images on the dark web.

Smith had been living in Nepal where he worked at another school during the time, but had previously worked in orphanages and with other organizations across India between 2007 and 2014, Sky News reported.

Prince William and Kate Middleton’s children — George, Charlotte, and Louis —  have attended the posh Lambrook School near Windsor since fall 2022 after the family moved out of London to Adelaide Cottage.

George enrolled at Thomas’s in 2017 and Charlotte enrolled in 2018. Both had left before Smith was employed by the school.