A man from Nottingham who posed as a teacher and telephoned up to 10,000 children for sexual gratification, has been jailed for three years.
Anthony Dore, 50, of St Alban’s Road, Bulwell, pleaded guilty to 16 offences of inciting children to commit acts of gross indecency.
Inner London Crown Court heard how Dore told children to touch themselves.
The police officer who led the investigation branded him “probably Britain’s worst paedophile”.
Dore made the calls between July 2003 and February 2005, even while on bail.
He targeted families from ethnic minorities whose numbers he found in the phone book, believing the children would be more compliant with his wishes.
His victims were both boys and girls aged between five and 12-years-old, who came from London, Norfolk, the West Midlands, Leicestershire and Nottinghamshire.
‘Irreparable harm’
He would speak to the parent or the child saying he was a teacher from the local education authority and wanted to talk to the child about relaxation techniques.
If he was able to speak to the child, he would start asking sexually-motivated questions.
Dore always made sure his number was withheld and got through dozens of SIM cards and handsets on pay-as-you-go phones in a bid to cover his tracks, but was eventually caught using a phone in his daughter’s name.
When Dore was arrested and charged, he told police: “The reason I did it was for self pleasure. Not to touch the children.”
Judge Quentin Campbell said his lengthy and “bizarre” behaviour may well have caused “irreparable psychological harm” to the children he spoke to. He called his acts “evil in the extreme.”
‘Unique case’
He added that just as serious was the fact that having been arrested for an initial series of offences, he then went on to target a huge number of other children while on bail.
Outside the court, Det Ch Insp Stephen Braddon added that, had Dore not been caught, in his opinion it would only have been a matter of time before he went on to commit “contact sexual offences”.
He said the evidence showed that Dore made “tens of thousands” of calls altogether, spending possibly hundreds of pounds a month on phone bills.
