Matthew Smith briefly worked at Thomas’s Battersea (Picture: BPM/Getty)
The former deputy head teacher of a primary school previously attended by Prince George and Princess Charlotte has been charged with 17 more child sex offences.
Matthew Smith, 34, worked at the £20,000-a-year Thomas’s Battersea school in south London.
He admitted five charges of making and distributing indecent images of children last year – but the National Crime Agency has now charged him with 17 more offences.
The five charges previously admitted to were not related to his time working at Thomas’s Battersea – or towards children in Nepal, where he worked at a school for a number of years.
Smith moved back to the UK from Nepal in July 2022 and began working at the primary school two months later.
His employment was terminated immediately after the school was informed of the charges.
Today Smith appeared at Westminster magistrates court charged with 17 offences relating to the suspected commissioning of sexual abuse of children in India via the internet between 2017-2022.
The charges include encouraging the rape of a child under 13, causing a child under 13 to engage in sexual activity, and arranging the sexual abuse of a child.
Matthew Smith was arrested last November (Picture: MyLondon/BPM Media)
He also faces six counts of making and distributing over 120,000 indecent images of children in categories A-C.
Smith will appear at Southwark crown court on June 20.
Helen Dore, senior officer at the National Crime Agency, said: ‘Child sexual abuse committed online and across borders is a substantial threat to the UK, and it’s one the NCA is committed to tackling.
‘We are dedicated to pursing the most dangerous offenders and to protecting any child who may be at risk, in the UK and across the globe.’
Thomas’s Battersea prep school was attended by Prince William’s two eldest children until the end of the 2021-22 academic year.
When their family moved out of Kensington Palace to a cottage on the grounds of the Windsor Castle estate, the children switched to Lambrook School near Ascot in Berkshire.
A spokesperson for Thomas’s Battersea previously told MailOnline: ‘We have been shocked and distressed to learn of these charges. The safety and wellbeing of our pupils is, and always will be, our top priority.
‘As there are ongoing criminal proceedings, it would be inappropriate to comment further at the this time other than to say that there is no suggestion the offences relate to Mr Smith’s employment at Thomas’s or to any current or former pupils.
‘As soon as the school learned of the charges, Mr Smith’s employment at the school, which commenced in September 2022, was terminated with immediate effect.’
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‘Child sexual abuse committed online and across borders is a substantial threat to the UK, and it’s one the NCA is committed to tackling.’
