Teacher Thomas Goodey jailed over dating app child sex

A teacher has been jailed for sexual offences against two boys after meeting them through an online dating app.

Thomas Goodey, 27, took one of the boys to a hotel where he gave him vodka before carrying out sexual acts.

He had a sexual encounter with the other child after inviting him to his mother's house while she was away, Portsmouth Crown Court heard.

Goodey, from the Isle of Wight, was jailed for four years after previously admitting six offences.

The school said the teacher was dismissed shortly after the allegations emerged.

The court was told Goodey, of Daniel Street, Ryde, met the boys through the dating app Grindr and later became aware they were underage.

The performing arts teacher invited the first boy to his mother's house in September last year. The teenager reported it in February, when Goodey was arrested.

In a statement read out in court, the boy said: "My life has suffered. I have been unhappy, less patient and I have issues with trusting people."

In police interviews, Goodey admitted spending the night with the second boy at a hotel in October 2016.

Judge David Melville QC told Goodey: "You should have said no. You weakened when you should have resisted."

Goodey pleaded guilty to five counts of sexual activity with a child and one of causing or inciting a child to engage in sexual activity.

The judge imposed a sexual harm prevention order and placed Goodey on the sex offenders' register.