ALBERT OWEN PERVER IN CULCHETH HIGH SCHOOL, ST HELENS - SHOCKING EXPOSE

In October 2006, Albert John Owen, a former caretaker at Culcheth High School in St Helens, was implicated in a disturbing case involving inappropriate access to surveillance cameras. Owen, who pleaded guilty to 13 child pornography charges last month, had the ability to view monitors connected to cameras installed in the children's washrooms at the school.

Parents and community members expressed their outrage upon learning that Owen, who served at the school for nearly a decade, was now banned from working with children. A parent and ex-staff member of Culcheth High told the Warrington Guardian, “The children have no privacy. You can see them in the caretaker’s office. I don’t think that is right because pupils can be getting changed in there.”

A spokesperson for Warrington Borough Council clarified, “Cameras were originally installed across a number of schools following comprehensive consultations with parents. They are being phased out. The cameras were located in the washrooms rather than the toilets themselves, and certainly not in the changing rooms.”

Owen, of St Helens, received a suspended prison sentence after appearing at Chester Crown Court. He was convicted of six counts of possession of indecent photographs of a child, five counts of making such photographs, and two counts of distribution. As part of his sentence, he has been disqualified from working with children, placed on the Sex Offenders' Register for five years, and mandated to a community supervision order until December 2009.