A high school in Wirral has issued an apology following the incarceration of the Wirral Paedophile, Mark Smith, who conducted after-school running groups for committing internet child sexual offences.
Pensby High School in Heswall announced that the institution engaged former police officer Mark Smith to manage the club, which now expresses remorse regarding his participation in its extracurricular activities.
On 30 July, Mark Smith was sentenced to 28 months in prison, issued a 10-year sexual harm prevention order, and required to register as a sex offender for the same duration.
Liverpool Crown Court previously heard that Mark Smith had encouraged a “dad” to exploit his kid sexually, stating, “You are on an amazing journey with your daughter.”
Mark Smith pushed the alleged father to partake in a series of disgusting sexual actions with the 10-year-old girl while he saw her via video call. However, he was trapped in an undercover operation.
Mark Smith, the 52-year-old, engaged in intimate conversations with decoy identities impersonating 13-year-old females on Snapchat after trivialising his deviant conduct as “sexual banter,” attributing it to “boredom” after he retired from the police force. He is known to have served as a sergeant with Merseyside Police.
Mark Smith acknowledged two counts of facilitating a child sex offence, three charges of attempting to persuade a kid to participate in sexual conduct, two offences of attempted sexual communication with a child, and two counts of sharing indecent photos of minors.
Before his arrest, Mark Smith was employed as a coach within Pensby High School’s extracurricular running club, working as an external contractor.
The organisation contacted the Wirral Council on the same day and made a Local Authority Designated Officer (LADO) referral. The running club was suspended with no further sessions.
NWROCU said none of the victims in this case were pupils at Pensby High School.
In late August, a letter, seen by the LDRs, was sent to parents at the school by headteacher Kevin Flanagan apologising as he “felt the need to write to the school community” following Mark Smith’s “recent arrest and sentencing”. He said Mark Smith “was not directly employed by Pensby”.
He added, “Once we were made aware of the allegations, the running club was suspended, Mr Mark Smith was banned from the site, and all contact ceased. At this point, professionals involved in the investigation and safeguarding reassured me that all offending occurred online with an undercover police officer. We were not allowed to comment on this until after sentencing.
“As we did not directly employ Mr Mark Smith, it can be difficult to gain information as we don’t automatically fall into professional discussions. However, I want to publicly thank the Local Authority Designated Officer (LADO), Pam Cope, who supported the school to ensure that we have taken all the steps we possibly could and has taken time to take me through everything we could do.
“Even though this was online offending and in a closed group, it does not, however, mean that there are no victims of his actions beyond the three immediately connected victims of his actions: his two children and wife, and my thoughts are with anyone touched by cases such as this.
“I am also aware that we have had a group of children who put faith in this man and took part in a running club with him. We have the registers for all the occasions when he ran the club and will talk to all the students who took part in the first few days back. This is not to ask questions or raise any concern, but to check in on the students and offer any support they might need.”
Referring to recent exam results at the school, he added, “Mr Smith did not deserve to take away from student success and the success of our whole community this summer. I apologise if you disagree with the order of communication. To my mind, the children must come first, and he does not have the right to take that celebration away from them.
“Once again, I am sorry that he was ever in our school, and we will continue to discuss and manage this process with the correct procedure and alongside all relevant authorities.”
In court in July, Olivia Beesley, prosecuting, described how the pervert went on to “take an interest” in the fictitious child over the coming days. Mark Smith of Bromborough detailed sickening sex acts he wished to perform with the girl and suggested staging a video call in which he would masturbate while the supposed dad had sex with his daughter before asking, “Would you share her at some point then?
“Do you want to watch her with other guys? I am so jealous; I would love to play with her. You watching would be even better. If she visits weekly, we could do a video call.”
He went on to request pictures of the daughter and in return, sent several indecent images of girls in school uniform and a video of a child being raped. Mark Smith was also told the dad lived in London, and in response, said travelling to the capital would be “worth it”.
Mark Smith then claimed he was also speaking to girls aged 13 and 15 online – branding the former as “good” and stating that, while she had not yet sent him explicit pictures of herself, he was “working on it”. He meanwhile said the older teenager had shared images of herself engaging in sexual activity.
John Weate, defending, told the court at the time: “He is a married man. He is well aware that he is extremely fortunate to have the support of his wife and family, who have full knowledge of the extent of the defendant’s offending over those two weeks. To say it was a shock to his family, and in particular, his wife, two disabled daughters and parents, is an understatement.
“Once the dust settled, they supported him, and he is grateful. He has been involved in volunteer work, both in a local park and in respect of his involvement in a running club, over a large number of years. The defendant was hospitalised following an attempt at suicide in May this year.
“The defendant has shown genuine remorse through his actions since being arrested. Perhaps most importantly, he is genuinely motivated to address his issues. Mark Smith, through me, expresses his utmost shame for his involvement as far as these allegations are concerned. He understands perhaps more than most people the significance of his participation in the commission of these offences.
“Everything would point to this defendant being someone who would engage, cooperate and comply. The prospects of rehabilitation are such that he is likely to be someone the court can have some confidence that would act that way.”
A spokesperson for Pensby High School said, “Safeguarding and the welfare of our school community remains our number one priority. While all relevant checks, policies and procedures were enacted during our engagement with Mr Smith, and his offences are not connected to school activities, we regret his involvement in our extra-curricular programme.
“We regularly review our safeguarding strategy, in line with best-practice guidance set out by the Department for Education.”
Wirral Council declined to comment. The Department for Education said it does not comment on individual cases.
Detective Inspector Jon Weir from NWROCU’s Investigation team said, “The NWROCU, working with partners, is committed to protecting children from sexual abuse and those who seek to do them harm.
“We would urge any child, or young person who is a victim of sexual abuse, or anyone who knows of a child being abused, to come forward and report this to police.
“Call 999 if you suspect such an incident is in progress, or pass any other information via 101, or anonymously via Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.”
If you or anyone you know have been affected by the people highlighted in this article, then please report those individuals to the Police on 101 (999 if an emergency) or visit their online resources for further details of the options for reporting a crime. You can also make a report at Crimestoppers should you wish to be completely anonymous. There is help available on our support links page.