A middle-aged college tutor, who played on "vulnerable" students to turn his Internet-fuelled spanking fantasies into reality, was jailed for two and a half years tonight.

For months Terry Carroll, 46, got away with his perverted reign of terror as he used the slightest pretext to bend the frightened girls over his knee.

But as he prowled through thousands of pornographic web sites by night and hunted for victims by day, he became more uncontrollable.

During the three-day residential course, he attacked four youngsters, including one who was repeatedly slapped as she lay in bed suffering from a stomach ache.

She told London's Snaresbrook Crown Court that her painful ordeal was followed by many more back at college as he insisted she was a "bad girl" and deserved to be punished for not doing her homework.

Carroll also became more violent, with one youngster forced to seek hospital treatment for bruising.

It finally culminated with a particularly disturbing incident where he grabbed hold of another victim in a bid to beat her after class.

Although she managed to wriggle off his lap, he then pinned her in a corner, thrust his hand up her skirt, ordered her to call him "sir", and told her she needed to be dominated by a "master".

The evening class student, who was in her late twenties and the oldest of those to fall into his clutches, eventually broke free and fled in terror.

Even after some of his victims finally plucked up the courage to complain, and he was suspended by the London college that had employed him for 10 years, Carroll continued to torment her with disgusting telephone calls.

Then, after he was arrested and charged, he again phoned to warn it would be "in her best interests" not to become involved in the investigation against him.

The married teacher, of Stortford Hall Park, Bishop's Stortford, Hertfordshire, bowed his head as the six-man, six-woman jury rejected his "bandwagon" conspiracy defence, and convicted him of five sample counts of indecent assault.

Judge Nicholas Coleman told the former nurse that he had betrayed the trust he had enjoyed as a lecturer by "intimidating and preying upon vulnerable students, mostly 16-17 year old girls, fresh out of school.

"Their accounts have an identical theme - they were threatened with dismissal from the course if they didn't work, with the implied threat that if they did not, in a sense, capitulate to your demands, they would be thrown off the course.

"Those who listened to the evidence could not fail to have seen the misery those girls suffered as a result of your conduct, both physical and mental pain."

The judge said that on his own admission Carroll had been interested in pornographic material.

"You plainly had a fascination with and a fondness, possibly even a lust, for spanking.

"There were thousands of images found on your home computer, images of bondage and in particular the humiliation of women, and I have no doubt you accessed similar images on the college computers."

He also referred to defence barrister Brian Payne's reference to the "pernicious influence" the Internet had had on his client.

"What those who wish to access this information do in private is not my concern. I must deal with you for what you plainly took out of your own home and used in your employment and that is quite wrong," he said.

The judge added that in addition to imprisonment Carroll would have to register as a sex offender for the rest of his life.

Shelagh Davies, prosecuting, said Carroll's behaviour amounted to "deliberately indecent acts for his own sexual gratification.

"He selected vulnerable students as his victims and abused his position as their tutor to force his unwanted attentions upon them, knowing they would be too frightened to complain.

"Clearly Carroll had a fixation with spanking."

The eight-day trial heard evidence from the victims, most of whom were described by their parents as "shy and unable to stand up for themselves".

One had even hoped college would help her forget the high school bullying she had suffered.

Several sobbed and visibly trembled as they recounted their suffering, invariably imposed as a result of spurious misdemeanours.

One spoke of being painfully punished in front of another girl for daring to have a photograph with her on the residential course.

Back at college he once sat next to her and stroked her leg as he used her computer terminal to log on to a pornographic site. Fear prevented her from doing anything about it.

Another told the jury that Carroll, who often spoke about bondage, targeted her after overhearing her tell a friend she had once bought handcuffs and a whip at an Ann Summers party.

She said the next day she had been lying on the dormitory floor to ease stomach pains when Carroll walked in, straddled her, and spanked her hard.

A day or so later he assaulted her again as she lay in bed, still unwell. This time the beating lasted about a minute.

Back at college her torment continued with him "hitting my bottom quite a lot" during a number of one-to-one tutorials.

Each time he would tell her she had been a "bad girl" for not doing her homework. On one occasion he fondled her between the legs as well.

She said it all left her feeling so "dirty and cheap", she felt unable to complain.

One 17-year-old said the tutor not only smacked her on three separate occasions during the course, but forced her to simulate oral sex in full view of two other "shocked" students.

He later threatened to cane her if she did not work harder.

"I didn't tell anyone because I was frightened I would be thrown off the course," she said.

Another victim wept as she recalled Carroll accusing her of being a "naughty girl" for not completing an assignment.

He then spanked her so hard her chest ended up being bruised where she had lain across his lap. She was in so much discomfort a hospital doctor prescribed painkillers.

A few days later she was assaulted again despite telling him she was still suffering from the earlier attack.

"I could not believe a tutor could do this. I was scared and felt betrayed. I wanted to tell someone but felt no-one would believe me," the teenager explained.

His last attack was also the most serious. This time his victim was in her late twenties.

Weeping, she told the jury that after fainting at one of Carroll's evening classes he offered her a lift home. But no sooner had he stopped outside her house than he tried to kiss her.

Although she managed to escape his clutches, she was not so fortunate during the next encounter.

On that occasion he waited until the other students had left, before shutting the door, turning the lights out and trying to spank her.

Foiled by her struggles, he pinned her in a corner instead and thrust his hand up her skirt.

As he did so he whispered in her ear: "You want me to be in charge. You want to be dominated. You want me to be your master."

He also told her to call him "sir". Finally she fought him off and fled in terror.

"I didn't report this incident to anyone straight away because it was too embarrassing, humiliating," she said.

Carroll was later suspended, although that did not prevent him plaguing her with indecent phone calls and a warning to keep her mouth shut.

The court heard the police investigation discovered that the tutor had not only accessed 5,000 pornographic sites from his computer at home, but had surfed similar addresses from college staff room terminals - a fact he tried to hide by wiping computer records minutes after he had been ordered from the premises.

For his part Carroll, a teacher for 15 years, claimed he had been the victim of a "bandwagon" conspiracy, largely because he had occasionally "been a bully" to get his teenage charges through their course.

However, he branded the older student as a woman scorned after he rejected her advances.

The tutor admitted calling up Internet "spanking" sites but never attempted to explain how most of his accusers featured that particular peccadillo in their complaints.

The lecturer, who was acquitted of one count of indecent assault and one of common assault, added that his only crime had been one of caring too much.

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