A predatory paedophile music teacher – who seduced two girls – has been jailed for two and a half years.

Devious Dominic Shawcross played on his male model looks to lure his victims into secret relationships more than 20 years ago.

The 45-year-old former model allowed portfolio pictures to be passed among vulnerable children at schools where he taught music.

But Shawcross, of Foxborough Hill, Woodnesborough, was told by a judge that despite his denials, he had seduced his victims and groomed them.

He was convicted of four sex assault charges and had claimed he was a victim of school fantasies.

But Judge Simon James said that the allegations he had sex with the girls couldn’t result in charges because of legislation.

The jury found him guilty of sex acts with his victims who had “a schoolgirl crush” on him and he had showed no remorse for the effects on them.

The judge added that the handsome Shawcross had been “immature and unable to deal” with their attention but had “revelled in it”.

Canterbury Crown Court heard directly from the two brave victims who unusually chose to read out their victim impact statements.

As Shawcross sat passively, one victim told the judge: “Dominic Shawcross took my virginity when I was 13. That changed my life and has affected it ever since.

"Dominic Shawcross took my virginity when I was 13. That changed my life and has affected it ever since" - one of Shawcross's victims

“At that time, barely into my teens, it totally distorted my understanding of what normal sexual experiences entailed.

“This led to 20 years of agonising indecision. Should I report it? Would I be believed? What would my family and I go through if I came forward?

“I and my family have suffered abuse, harassment, threats and lies.

“I had to listen to a deluge of lies told about me in court, including me propositioning him for sex as a child. A fantastist, an unpopular child who made up this ugly tale for attention.

“I naively assumed that on conviction the lies would finally stop, but they have kept coming. To continue to victimise us by refusing to apologise shows utter contempt for me and the legal process."

The second victim revealed how she had fallen for the predatory charms of Shawcross because she was being bullied at school.

She was encouraged to take karate lessons to build up her confidence, and it was Shawcross who was the teacher there.

She said: “I felt isolated already with few friends but he just isolated me further and I felt the burden to keep it secret to protect his career.”

She claimed he pressured her, using“an insidious form of emotional blackmail” to bed her, telling her his then girlfriend didn’t give him sex.

“At a time when I should have been more focused on school studies and not worrying about pregnancy tests, I felt out of my depth both physically and emotionally.

“I felt completely unable to express what I felt without a paralysing fear of losing him. I had insecurities which he repeatedly massaged with implied threats."

Shawcross, who taught pupils how to play a variety of musical instruments in Deal and Sandwich, was originally charged with nine indecent assault charges.

The jury convicted him of four and failed to agree on five others. After talks with the victims, the Crown Prosecution Service decided not to seek a retrial.

Despite quitting teaching, Shawcross still holds karate lessons in Deal, Woodnesborough and Sandwich and claims to be a qualified archery instructor and reflexologist.

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