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A vulnerable young boy who was groomed and raped by his teacher in the 1980s spent years terrified he had been infected with Aids.

Anthony Preece, 75, formerly of Graig y Rhacca, was a teacher at Bedwas Comprehensive School when he abused the pupil.

Preece had denied 12 charges of abuse but was found unanimously guilty by a trial jury.

As part of a sentence hearing at Cardiff Crown Court, held on Friday, September 3, a statement from his victim was read out by prosecuting barrister Andrew Davies.

He said: “It is very difficult for me to put into words the extent of damage you caused me. As a young, naive, boy, it was very difficult for me to process what you had done.

“It had a detrimental impact on most aspects of my life. There was, of course, the immediate physical damage, but there was also the long-term psychological damage.

“The shame and confusion was so great I considered ending it all.

“I actually pushed away those closest to me and this caused many of my relationships to breakdown.

The victim, who was around 14 or 15 when the abuse started, revealed how he had depended on drink and drugs to cope and that in the following years feared he had contracted Aids from Preece.

He added: “I spent the next years terrified and I was terrified of having children. I missed the opportunity to have children and believe it is why I do not have any.”

The charges faced by Preece included indecent assault and “buggery without consent”. These offences fell under the Sexual Offences Act 1956, the law at the time. Most of this legislation was repealed with the Sexual Offences Act of 2003.

Had Preece been charged under today’s standards he would have been charged with rape and other more specific offences.

Preece had already been jailed before – in 1992 – for similar abuse against another pupil around the same time. It is understood there are other boys that Preece also preyed upon.

Mitigating for Preece, defence barrister Justin Gau said his defendant was a changed man since his earlier jail sentence, when he had to complete a sexual offenders’ prevention course.

Mr Gau argued: “It has been said the past is another country and that what we do is different there. Mr Preece is different to the man who abused all those years ago.”

He added: “His health is not good. You would have heard at some length about his lengthy period of depression and his erectile dysfunction.

“Morally, he is not going to offend again, but physically he cannot.”

Sentencing Preece Judge David Wynn Morgan said: “You dazzled [your victim] and made him feel special. This activity was manipulative and predatory. It was carried out on your part with the sole purpose of putting him in a position where you could commit sexual offences against him which you did with alcohol and amyl nitrate.

“The consequences have been profound. The result of your pleas of not guilty was to require your victim to give evidence and to relive the experience you inflicted against him.

“You portrayed him as a wicked liar, and portrayed yourself as charismatic but presented yourself to the jury as sanctimonious and hypocritical”.

Judge Morgan also said the court had been moved by the “eloquence” of the victim’s statement.

Preece, who now lives in Sherborne, Dorset, was sentenced to a total of eight and a half years for the offences and will serve two thirds of that behind bars before being released on licence.

He was given five years on three counts of indecent assault, three years on six counts of indecent assault, and for eight and a half years on three counts of buggery. Each of these will run at the same time.

He was also made subject to a sexual harm prevention order and will be added to the sex offenders register.

Gwent Police was approached for a custody photograph of Preece, but the force said one was unavailable as Preece was charged via letter.