THOMAS BALL FROM ATHERSTONE INVOLVED IN SHOCKING SCHOOL VOYEURISM AT YORK SCHOOL

In March 2021, a disturbing case emerged involving Thomas David Ball, a 30-year-old former senior housemaster at Queen Ethelburga’s, a prestigious fee-paying school located in Thorpe Underwood near York. The incident revealed a pattern of predatory behavior, including the use of covert technology to spy on a vulnerable pupil and the possession of a disturbing collection of indecent images involving children.

Ball’s actions came to light after he installed a hidden camera in a bathroom at the school, which he purchased through Amazon. The camera was concealed beneath the sink and was active during a pupil’s shower, capturing footage without consent. The victim, whose identity remains protected for legal reasons, had just returned from registration when he was asked to take a shower by Ball. During the shower, the boy noticed wires beneath the sink connected to the spy camera, which was illuminated to indicate it was recording. Trusting Ball, the boy handed him the camera, unaware of its purpose.

Ball then took the device away, purportedly to dispose of the 15-minute video footage it contained. The boy, sensing something was wrong, confided in his mother. Subsequently, Ball admitted to the school’s deputy safeguarding leader that he had made a “stupid mistake.” At the time, Ball had recently been promoted to a role responsible for monitoring pupils’ wellbeing, which made his actions even more egregious.

Following the incident, the school promptly reported the matter to the police. However, before officers arrived, Ball went to his room claiming he needed to “retrieve something.” Police investigations revealed that Ball was attempting to conceal evidence, as he had hidden a second spy camera, a tablet, and a memory stick in his car’s trunk. Forensic analysis uncovered a cache of vile images on the tablet, including videos depicting the rape and torture of young children.

Authorities found Ball’s fingerprints on the memory card and the device itself, linking him directly to the covert footage. Despite this evidence, Ball initially denied involvement in the filming of the naked boy and attempted to shift blame onto other staff members, causing significant distress and disruption within the school community.

Further forensic examination of Ball’s devices revealed that he had been actively searching for spy cameras online. In May 2018, he purchased two such cameras along with an SD card, both equipped with night vision capabilities. Police recovered the footage from Ball’s laptop and external hard drive, which contained a disturbing collection of indecent images of children, primarily boys as young as ten, obtained through peer-to-peer file sharing software. The images ranged from Category A, the most severe, to Category C, including both photographs and videos.

Among the illicit material were over 20 prohibited or cartoon images depicting young boys being bound, raped, and tortured. One particularly horrifying video showed a child between two and five years old being sexually abused. Ball admitted to three counts of making indecent images of children and downloading prohibited content. Initially, he denied installing the covert camera, filming the boy, and committing voyeurism at the school during the summer of 2018. However, he changed his plea to guilty approximately a month before the scheduled trial.

Judge Simon Hickey addressed Ball’s crimes, emphasizing the gross breach of trust involved in his offenses against the vulnerable pupil. The judge stated, “Parents expect their children to be looked after and not spied upon and filmed.” He highlighted the extensive planning involved, noting Ball’s “29 separate searches” for images of the boy on social media, which demonstrated significant determination.

Thomas Ball, of Over Road, Atherstone, Warwickshire, was sentenced to 20 months in prison. He will serve half of this sentence before being eligible for release on license. Additionally, he was placed on the sex offenders register for ten years and subjected to a sexual harm prevention order aimed at restricting his internet activities and contact with children, in an effort to prevent further harm.