Guilty! Michael Crombie, London, England, United Kingdom (arrested 2010) [indecent assault & images]

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Michael Crombie (Monkhams Avenue, Woodford Green, England, United Kingdom), born Aug 1 1937, former music teacher at Wanstead High School, Redbridge Council Schools, London, England, United Kingdom, '28 charges of indecently assaulting nine girls aged under 16, seven charges of making indecent images of a child and one charge of possessing indecent images of a child"

Previously taught at a school known as "Beal Grammar School" or "Beal Girls' School", which as best I can tell is now Beal High School, Redbridge Council Schools, Ilford, England, United Kingdom

Guardian: WOODFORD GREEN: Music teacher 'had underwater sexual fetish' (Nov 9 2010)

At Snaresbrook Crown Court today it was claimed Michael Crombie, a former music teacher at Wanstead High SChool, satisfied an alleged sexual fetish for watching women breathe underwater by filming a young girl in the bath at his Woodford Green home. Sandy Canavan, prosecuting, told the court that Mr Crombie got the alleged victim, who he was teaching to play the recorder, into his bath by telling her holding her breath underwater would improve her breathing technique. ​

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The first alleged victim was seven-years-old when she started seeing Mr Crombie for recorder lessons in 1991. Miss Canavan said the "first few lessons were fun" but after a few weeks she claimed Mr Crombie started kissing the alleged victim on the forehead. She said he put his hands under her clothes, on her stomach, and said he was feeling her diaphragm which would make her stronger for singing. Miss Canavan said the alleged victim was told to call the defendant "uncle Michael" and the alleged abuse escalated over time when Mr Crombie "started to kiss her on the lips, pushing his mouth on to hers". She claimed that Mr Crombie introduced a fish tank for the alleged victim to hold her breath in, while her head was submerged underwater, and this progressed to the alleged victim holding her breath in Mr Crombie's bath. Miss Canavan said the alleged victim initially held her breath in the bath in a swimming costume, then in her knickers, before being persuaded she would be better off doing it wearing nothing. She added: "He (Mr Crombie) is sexually excited by women breathing underwater." ​

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Ilford Recorder: Woodford Green music teacher ‘assaulted his pupils’, court told (Nov 10 2010)

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Crombie recorded eight videos including a “highlights tape” featuring one of his victims lying naked or semi-clothed in his bath as he urged her to hold her breath, jurors at Snaresbrook Crown Court heard. In a recording played to the court, [Michael] Crombie can be seen with one hand on the 10-year-old’s chest, holding her under the water. Crombie allegedly counts up to more than a minute as the girl struggles for air, telling her: “Slow it down if you can” and “grit your teeth”. He is also said to have trussed up the youngster with his tie while she lay in the pink tub at his house. Crombie told the girl they were “bubbling” exercises to help her breathing while learning to play the recorder, the court heard.​

 

Ilford Recorder: Woodford Green music teacher accused of child abuse, posed as female journalist, court told (Nov 11 2010)

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The court heard she received letters from the Recorder Magazine – a publication dedicated to the instrument – urging her to perform [Michael] Crombie’s “bubbling” exercises. But, the jury was told, the letters, signed Edna Barrett, were in fact penned by Crombie. Now an adult, she said she was between 10 and 12 at the time. She said Crombie had also given her cash to buy a bikini to wear in his bath but she initially resisted. She said: “He was very disappointed and very unhappy and very cold.” She later relented and bought a blue bikini but Crombie insisted that she strip naked for the bathtub lessons, the court heard. The woman said: “There was nothing I could do about it. I didn’t feel strong enough to stand up to him. I couldn’t tell my parents at that stage, it had gone too far.”​

 

Guardian: WANSTEAD/WOODFORD: Trial of former music teacher continues (Nov 16 2010)

Richard Neal, director of music at Woodford County High School since 1991, told the court today about the time a pupil asked to speak with him privately about her music lessons outside school. Mr Neal told the court that the alleged victim was told by [Michael] Crombie to take her bikini along to lessons so she could practice breathing exercises in his bath. Mr Neal said: "I was absolutely flabbergasted, it was a statement I would never forget for the rest of my life. ​

"I remember it, like seeing 9/11." He said he was particularly surprised as the pupil was taking piano lessons which did not marry up with breathing exercises. ​

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The mother of the former pupil, who Crombie is alleged to have indecently assaulted between November 1991 and November 1996, said how her daughter sang three solos at the birthday party and after the final performance Crombie stood up and kissed the teenager on the lips, "much to everyone's surprise". ​

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There are quite a few examples of abuse related by several victims -- best to read the article, I can't quote them all!

 

Ilford Recorder: Woodford Green music teacher says girl ‘asked’ to lay naked in bath (Nov 19 2010)

But Crombie told jurors the naked bathtub exercises had been the schoolgirl’s idea after she had performed similar routines with her mother. Crombie said the girl told him that her improving ability to blow long notes on her recorder was down to holding her breath during bath time sessions at home. “She told me the timings that obviously her mother had done and they were figures I felt were pretty remarkable for a young girl,” Crombie told Snaresbrook Crown Court.​

“I suppose I expressed some doubt about these timings. “She said, there and then: ‘I will show you’. “She made it quite clear to me, there was no doubt, she was not the least bit bothered about a costume.” Crombie rejected the prosecution case that the girl started off wearing a swimsuit which he gradually urged her to take off and later go nude. He said he had only placed his hands on pupils’ chests and stomachs during “breathing exercises”.​

 

An "element of fun" with a naked seven-year-old girl tied up and half drowned in a bath tub by a pervert in his 60's?

Guardian: WANSTEAD/WOODFORD: Former teacher denies underwater fetish (Nov 19 2010)

[Michael Crombie] said he filmed the pupil, who was seven-years-old when she started seeing Crombie for lessons in 1991, so the pair of them could watch her holding her breath and he could give feedback. Dermot Keating, acting on behalf of Crombie, asked why the pupil had been tied up in some of the video footage. Crombie, of Monkhams Avenue, Woodford Green, said there was "an element of fun" to it. ​

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The former teacher also admitted creating an alias, Edna Barrett, who he told the alleged victim was a writer with The Recorder magazine. He said he made up the fictional character in an attempt to motivate the pupil by claiming the imaginary reporter would write an article about her if she held her breath for longer. ​

This Is Local London: WANSTEAD/WOODFORD: Former teacher denies underwater fetish (Nov 19 2010)

 

Ilford Recorder: Woodford music tutor facing lengthy jail term for indecent assaults (Nov 26 201)

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The youngster Michael Crombie ducked in his pink bathtub was one of eight schoolgirls he molested during private “music lessons”. The 73-year-old local choir leader made eight films of his perverted exploits including a “highlights tape” of the naked girl struggling for air as he holds her down.​

The Rotary Club member further indulged his water fetish by inviting the girl and her friend to clear his garden pond wearing shorts before hosing and rubbing down their muddy legs. He also groped several other girls during piano and singing lessons between 1991 and 2002 at his home in Monkhams Avenue, Woodford Green. Crombie, who retired from teaching in two Redbridge schools in 1990, is feared to have assaulted many other girls. It emerged today that at least 15 other potential victims have contacted police since his trial began ... jurors at Snaresbrook Crown Court unanimously convicted Crombie of all charges ... Crombie was convicted of 26 counts of indecent assault, seven counts of making indecent images of a child and possessing indecent images of a child.​

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Guardian: WANSTEAD/WOODFORD: Child abuse music teacher found guilty (Nov 26 2010)

The jury in the case of former Wanstead High School teacher Michael Crombie took about two hours to agree guilty verdicts on the 34 charges ... He was found guilty of 26 charges of indecently assaulting nine girls aged under 16, seven charges of making indecent images of a child and one charge of possessing indecent images of a child. ​

 

Guardian: WANSTEAD/WOODFORD: Child abuse teacher told to expect "lengthy" sentence (Nov 26 2010)

Michael Crombie, 73, of Monkhams Avenue, Woodford Green, was found guilty today at Snaresbrook Crown Court after a three-week trial. He was convicted of 26 charges of indecently assaulting nine girls aged under 16, seven charges of making indecent images of a child and one charge of possessing indecent images of a child. The former Wanstead High School music teacher was told by judge Inigo Bing that he was found guilty in the face of "compelling evidence" and he should expect a "lengthy" prison sentence.​

 

This Is Local London: WANSTEAD/WOODFORD: Neighbours speak of child abuse teacher (Dec 1 2010)

Another former teacher at the school has claimed staff had "grave suspicions" about Crombie and rumours were "common knowledge" ... The former teacher at Wanstead High School who spoke to the Guardian about Crombie said she was "utterly aghast" hearing about the trial. The woman, who would not be named, taught at the school from 1991 to 2002 and arrived just after Crombie left. She claimed Crombie was dismissed form the school and banned from the site, although it was said in court that Crombie took early retirement in 1990. Chris Van Bussell, the current headteacher at Wanstead High School, told the Guardian it is a "shame" the school's name is connected to the case. He said: "We know he left the school in 1990 and retired at that stage but we have no knowledge of him being banned." Mr Van Bussell said no staff at the school now were there when Crombie was and a teacher's file is disposed of after seven years. ​

Guardian: WANSTEAD/WOODFORD: Neighbours speak of child abuse teacher (Dec 1 2010)

 

This Is Local London: WANSTEAD/WOODFORD: More allegations made about music tutor (Dec 1 2010)

EIGHT more women have contacted police claiming to have been indecently assaulted by a former music teacher. Michael Crombie, of Monkhams Avenue, Woodford Green, was convicted of 26 charges of indecently assaulting nine girls aged under 16. The 73-year-old former Wanstead High School teacher was also found guilty of seven charges of making indecent images of a child and one charge of possessing indecent images of a child. At the conclusion of the trial, last Friday, Det Insp Mick Thurley, of the child abuse investigation team based at Woodford Police Station, said there could be a second investigation and trial as 15 women had contacted police since the trial started. Today a Metropolitan Police spokeswoman said 23 women have now contacted police claiming to have been indecently assaulted by Crombie. ​

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Guardian: WANSTEAD/WOODFORD: More allegations made about music tutor (Dec 1 2010)

 

Ilford Recorder: Woodford water fetish child molester ‘may have preyed on more pupils’ (Dec 5 2010)

At least 15 more allegations have been made since the 73-year-old’s trial started. ​

But the career of Crombie, of Monkhams Avenue, Woodford Green, panned 50 years and he taught hundreds of pupils. Officers have not said whether the latest alleged victims were taught by him privately or were pupils at the two secondary schools where he was also a teacher. A number of former pupils at one school have contacted the Recorder, claiming they had witnessed, or fallen prey, to the tutors “fetish”. One parent – whose daughter went to the school in the 1980s – said Crombie was forced out after failing to heed warnings over his behaviour. he mum said she became aware of his behaviour when her child told her Crombie had kissed her friend on the lips.​

 

Ilford Recorder: Woodford Green water fetish music teacher jailed for seven years (Dec 21 2010)

[Michael] Crombie, who was convicted last month of 26 counts of indecent assault, seven counts of making indecent images of a child and possessing indecent images of a child, was ordered to sign the sex offenders’ register for life and obey a sexual offences prevention order, banning him from unsupervised contact with children. Judge Bing also ruled Crombie had “considerable assets” and ordered a recovery of defence costs of £30,000.​

 

Guardian: WOODFORD GREEN: Child abuse teacher jailed (Dec 21 2010)

At Snaresbrook Crown Court today (December 21), Judge Inigo Bing sentenced Crombie to seven years for each of the three charges relating to the indecent assaults in the bath. Crombie, who looked frail as he entered the court with the aid of a walking stick, was also given eight terms of three years and a further 23 sentences of 18 months for the other charges. All sentences will run concurrently ... Crombie will also have to adhere to a sexual offence prevention order, will remain on the sexual offenders register for life, and was ordered to pay £30,000 towards the cost of the prosecution. ​

 

Guardian: WOODFORD GREEN: Child molester has sentence cut (May 27 2011)

A PIANO teacher who was jailed for seven years for sexually abusing young girls has had his sentence cut by nearly a third on appeal ... An appeal to the High Court against his conviction was thrown out by judges yesterday but they reduced his sentence from seven years to five on health grounds. ​

This Is Local London: WOODFORD GREEN: Child molester has sentence cut (May 27 2011)

 

Ilford Recorder: Ex Woodford Green music teacher to stand trial accused of abusing 29 young girls (Nov 5 2012)

Michael Crombie, 75, formerly of Monkhams Avenue, Woodford Green is charged with two counts of rape, two counts of sexual activity with a child and 73 charges of indecent assault ... Judge Wendy Joseph confirmed Crombie is to stand trial on the first 35 allegations on January 7.​

 

Ilford Recorder: Jailed ex Woodford Green music teacher admits molesting a further 16 victims (Dec 21 2012)

Michael Crombie, 75, formerly of Monkhams Avenue, Woodford Green, admitted exploiting his young pupils while teaching at two schools and in private lessons at his home between 1964 and 2007 ... At the Old Bailey he pleaded guilty to 47 counts of indecent assault and two counts of sexual activity with a child relating to 16 victims between 1964 and 2007. The rest of the charges were left on the file after the prosecution accepted his pleas ... The new allegations date back to 1964 at Beal Grammar School and involve Crombie putting his hands into the girls’ clothing, sexually assaulting them, touching and rubbing their back, chest and legs.​

 

London 24: Jailed teacher admits molesting a further 16 girls (Dec 21 2012)

Michael Crombie, 75, formerly of Monkhams Avenue, Woodford Green, admitted exploiting his young pupils while teaching at two schools and in private lessons at his home between 1964 and 2007 ... At the Old Bailey today he pleaded guilty to 47 counts of indecent assault and two counts of sexual activity with a child relating to 16 victims between 1964 and 2007. The rest of the charges were left on the file after the prosecution accepted his pleas. Judge Wendy Joseph told Crombie he should expect an additional sentence when he returns to court on January 25 next year.​

 

BBC: Ex-music teacher admits to sex attacks in London schools (Dec 21 2012)

Michael Crombie, 75, of Woodford Green, north London, admitted 47 counts of indecently assaulting children between 1964 and 1993. He also admitted at the Old Bailey two counts of sexual activity with a child between 2005 and 2007. The charges relate to 16 victims at Beal Grammar School and Wanstead High School, where he was a teacher. He will be sentenced on 25 January.​

 

Guardian: Jailed music teacher, Michael Crombie, confesses to molesting 16 more victims (Dec 22 2012)

Crombie admitted yesterday exploiting young pupils while teaching at Wanstead High School and Beal Girl's School, Ilford between 1964 and 2007 ... At the Old Bailey yesterday he pleaded guilty to 47 counts of indecent assault and two counts of sexual activity with a child relating to 16 victims between 1964 and 2007. The rest of the charges were left on the file after the prosecution accepted his pleas. Judge Wendy Joseph QC told Crombie he should expect an additional sentence when he returns to court on January 25 next year. Crombie was due for release in May next year after serving his five year sentence, which was reduced from seven years by the Court of Appeal. ​