A Teacher who tricked boys into sending him indecent images of themselves by pretending to be a promiscuous teenage girl has been jailed for 18 months.

Pervert Stephen Grant, 31, also a former town councillor in Mirfield, admitted his crimes in a confession box and was told by a priest to give himself up.

Religious Education teacher Grant gave the impression the girl was a fictitious niece of his called Charlotte who needed a boyfriend when, in reality, he was the person at the other end of the line making sexual suggestions.

Speaking at Leeds Crown Court, Michael Smith, prosecuting, said that Grant had befriended former GCSE boys at a West Yorkshire school and it never crossed their mind the 19-year-old girl talking 'dirty' to them through a chatroom was anything other than a member of the opposite sex.

Some of the teenagers went along with the request to send sexually explicit pictures of their private parts, although others refused in spite of the make-believe girl promising to send pictures back of herself.

One 16-year-old was sent pictures purporting to come from the girl showing her involved in sexual acts in return for his performing a sexual act in front of a webcam.

Because he then regretted what he had done, he stopped contact with her, only to receive persistent text messages asking why he was no longer in touch.

When vile Grant was arrested he denied any sexual gratification involved, blaming a specific physical interest. Dermot Hughes, for Grant, said he was a 'troubled soul' who was now seen as a social leper.

The offences were in fact juvenile and amateurish and, however disturbing for the youths and families involved, they were also rooted in fantasy, showing he needed help, Mr Hughes said.

Grant, of Mirfield, had admitted eight charges of inciting children to sexual activity while in a position of trust between December 2007 and July 2008.

Passing sentence, the Recorder of Leeds Judge Peter Collier QC, said "The direct victims of your offences were six male pupils from the school you taught at. You were by virtue of your role as a teacher in a position of trust. More than that you had a reputation as a caring teacher who pupils felt they could trust".

He added "You engaged in sexually explicit conversations with them and encouraged them to send you pictures. In return you sent them sexually explicit pictures including moving pictures taken from the internet."

Giving Grant credit for his guilty plea the judge said "When this all came to light you made a full and frank confession to the police. You were in a position of power and you misled and betrayed the victims you were supposed to protect."

The judge jailed Grant for 18 months, banned him from working with children and made a 10-year sexual offences prevention order against him. He was also put on the Sex Offenders Register.

A man who was jailed for sex crimes against children has died in Thailand, where he had been working in a school.

Former Mirfield man Stephen David Grant collapsed on August 25 and died in hospital in Bangkok, it has emerged,.

And a colleague has now told how the former Mirfield town councillor managed to land a job at a top private school in Thailand even though a British court had banned him from contact with children.

Grant is thought to have got the post at the Assumption Thonburi College were he taught English on the high school level. It is understood he had used the name David Grant, rather than Stephen.

Details of his past only came to light after he died in a hospital in Bangkok

Former teaching colleague Ken Glickman, who knew nothing of his past, discovered the sordid background after speaking to Grant's mother in West Yorkshire. She is now arranging for his body to be flown home.

Mr Glickman said "He was a phoney, a fraud. I had never doubted what he said and saw what an excellent teacher he was, but now know he tricked his way into the school. It was only after he died and I had spoken to his family that I realised something wasn’t right and did some checking."

Prior to teaching at Assumption, he was a teacher at Satit Udomsueka Academy in Pattaya, Thailand, also employed under the name of David Grant. He was terminated from Satit for inappropriate behaviour with students. Prior to Satit, Grant worked at a Thai government school in Bangkok and in China before that.

Grant was a teacher at Satit Udomsueka Academy in Pattaya, Thailand

In 2009 that Grant, then aged 31, was jailed for 18 months tricking boys into sending him indecent images of themselves.

Religious Education Teacher Grant gave the impression the girl was a fictitious niece of his called Charlotte who needed a boyfriend when, in reality, he was the person at the other end of the line making sexual suggestions.

Pervert Grant admitted his crimes in a confession box and was told by a priest to give himself up.

The case was heard at Leeds Crown Court where Grant admitted eight charges of inciting children to sexual activity while in a position of trust between December 2007 and July 2008.

He was given a 10 year Sexual Offences Prevention Order banning him from working with children and put on the Sex Offenders Register. But Grant, on his release from prison, first worked in China and then landed jobs at two Thailand schools.

Mr Glickman said: “He told me had had been suspended from the Satit Academy in Pattaya for using corporal punishment on a boy but after he died the school told me it was for inappropriate behaviour.

"The biggest thing in my life is nurturing and encouraging young children to develop and I am appalled to think he was allowed to work in these schools."