Brentwood School teacher and St Laurence Church choirmaster, David Pickthall, sentenced to 18 years for sexually abusing boys

David Pickthall was sentenced to 12 years in prison at Chelmsford Crown Court on 11 November 2024.

The Court heard how Pickthall would abuse his position of trust at Brentwood School and a church in the Havering district to abuse children. Pickthall not only used his position of trust to groom and abuse boys but to also groom their families allowing him access to the boys at school, church and in his home.

Pickthall abused the boys under the guise of tickling or wrestling which quickly escalated into sexual abuse.

The court heard the devastating impact of his crimes upon the boys, now men. One man reported the abuse to a saxophone teacher at the time. Given Pickthall’s standing in the community as a teacher and individual who worked with charities, his disclosure was not acted upon.

HHJ Loram observed that Pickthall’s mode of offending changed as time went on, using the internet and covert cameras in his home to create indecent images and videos.

To mitigate his offending, Pickthall wrote a letter to the Court. The Judge commented that the letter entirely missed the point as Pickthall wrote only about the impact of his offending on himself. All those in the gallery were staggered by Pickthall’s continued arrogance by writing such an offensive letter.

Taking this into account, HHJ Loram handed down a sentence of 12 years. He will have to serve at least two thirds of this before he will be considered for parole.

Anyone who has suffered abuse can contact me directly for free, no-obligation, advice about their rights.