Former piano teacher jailed for prolific sexual offences against 19 victims

A former director of music at a private school who indecently assaulted 10 pupils has been jailed today for 12 years for a number of sexual offences.

David Pickthall, 66, carried out the abuse between 1979 and 2003 whilst employed as a teacher at Brentwood school in Essex and in his capacity as Choirmaster in the Borough of Havering. His victims were aged between nine and 14.

The scale of his offending covered a total of 19 victims between 1979 and 2021. His victims reported how they felt that they and their families were manipulated into believing he was a trusted friend. Many spoke about the long-lasting impact of the abuse.

Samantha Wright from the Crown Prosecution Service said: “David Pickthall sexually abused those who were at their most vulnerable. He exploited his relationship with the victims using his trusted position in the community.

“To each and every one of Pickthall’s victims, I thank you for coming forward.

“I hope today sends a clear message that anyone who has been a victim of sexual abuse should not hesitate in making a report to the Police regardless of the position or status that the abuser holds in society.”

All the victims described how Pickthall would start by tickling them during private lessons and when they fell to the ground he would put in his hand down the boys’ trousers. Pickthall previously pleaded guilty to 16 counts of indecent assault against 10 victims.

He integrated himself into the families of the victims, gaining their trust and respect. All the victims recounted similar examples of how Pickthall groomed them by giving them alcohol, showing them pornographic films and magazines, and letting them stay in his guest room.

Many victims said they did not speak out at the time for fear of not being believed due to Pickthall’s prominence within their community. They describe being conflicted, that this was an individual who had mentored and developed their musical career but at the same time had manipulated the situation in order to sexually assault them.

Pickthall also pleaded guilty to 10 charges of voyeurism. The eight young adult victims were secretly filmed by Pickthall when they stayed in his spare bedroom. They had been his students at the school who had remained in touch with him socially. The hidden cameras caught them naked or in their underwear. One was filmed using the toilet.

When one of those adult victims was a teenager, Pickthall got him to send indecent images of himself by pretending to be a teenage girl on social media. He then used those images to create fake social media accounts and engaged in sexual communication with other young males online. He pleaded guilty to two counts of making indecent images of a child.

Pickthall’s 19th victim was a 15-year-old boy who was manipulated into sending a photo of his genitals. Pickthall had pretended to be a teenage boy and asked for the indecent photo.

Pickthall retired in 2014 and was given an MBE the following year for services to education and charity.

To deal with some of the more complex and challenging child sexual abuse cases like this, the CPS has established a dedicated Organised Child Sexual Abuse Unit to share specialist understanding, build strong cases and increase the amount of successful prosecutions.