An ex-deputy head teacher at Prince George and Princess Charlotte’s former primary school has now been charged with a total of 22 counts of child sex abuse.
Matthew Smith, 34, is accused of 17 offences over the alleged commissioning of the sexual abuse of children in India while he lived in Nepal for five years.
He was deputy headteacher at Thomas’s prep school in Battersea High Street, south west London, until the first allegations emerged six months ago.
Mr Smith has already been charged with five child sexual abuse offences linked to his time in Nepal and has been held in prison ever since.
At Westminster magistrates court on Tuesday, Mr Smith was charged with another 17 counts, 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.
These latest allegations are over claims he went online to encourage child sex abuse in India while he worked at a British school in the Nepalese capital, Kathmandu, between 2017 and 2022.
The 17 fresh charges include encouraging the rape of a child under 13, causing a boy under 13 to engage in sexual activity, arranging the sexual abuse of a child, encouraging the sexual assault of a child under 13 and encouraging sexual activity with a child.
He is also accused of having more than 120,000 indecent images of children, including 10,000 of the worst category, police said.
Previously Mr Smith appeared at the same court in November over five counts, including causing the sexual exploitation and abuse of a child under 13, distributing indecent images of children and three counts of making indecent images of children.
Smith moved back to the UK last July and began working at Thomas’s prep school, where he was a deputy head teacher and head of pastoral care in September. He was sacked two months later.
His dismissal came after his home in East Dulwich, south east London, was raided by police on Nov 6, where he was arrested.
It is understood none of the charges relate to his job at the £20,000-a-year Thomas’s primary school, which was attended by Prince George and Princess Charlotte until the end of the last academic year.
National Crime Agency
The National Crime Agency said there was no evidence Smith committed crimes against children in Nepal or the UK.
Both Royal children have now moved to Lambrook School, near Ascot in Berkshire, and had left by the time Mr Smith started work in September.
Helen Dore, senior officer at the National Crime Agency, said: “Child sexual abuse committed online and across borders is a substantial threat to the UK, and it’s one the NCA is committed to tackling.
“We are dedicated to pursuing the most dangerous offenders and to protecting any child who may be at risk, in the UK and across the globe.”
Before his role at Thomas’s, Mr Smith was assistant head teacher at the British School in Kathmandu, Nepal, for five years.
He also taught at St Paul’s School, and has degrees from both Oxford and Cambridge.
A spokesman for Thomas’s prep school said when the allegations first came to light: “We have been shocked and distressed to learn of these charges. The safety and wellbeing of our pupils is, and always will be, our top priority.
“As there are ongoing criminal proceedings, it would be inappropriate to comment further at this time other than to say that there is no suggestion that the offences relate to Mr Smith’s employment at Thomas’s or to any current or former pupils of the school.
“As soon as the school learned of the charges, Mr Smith’s employment at the school, which commenced in September this year, was terminated with immediate effect.”
Mr Smith is due to appear at Southwark Crown Court in June 2023.