Retired Chichester teacher convicted of historic sexual assaults on children

Following two trials, Piers Le Cheminant, 77, was found guilty of indecent assaults on boys while he was a teacher at a school in the Chichester area, and another school in Wiltshire, for several years from the 1960s, the CPS said.

Portsmouth Crown Court heard that complaints had been made about him at the time at both schools and, on each occasion, he was asked to leave.

A CPS spokesperson said: “The complaints came to the attention of the police in 2018 and former pupils were sent standard letters, with a number of responses received, naming Le Cheminant as being responsible for sexual abuse. He denied all the allegations when interviewed by the police, calling them ‘nonsense’.”

Gareth Morgan, district crown prosecutor with CPS South East, said many of the victims ‘had strikingly similar recollections’ of what had happened to them – with some abused during class in front of other pupils and others subjected to abuse after sport.

“The defendant was a popular teacher, which put some of his victims off sharing what had happened to them, as they did not want to get him into trouble,” Mr Morgan said.

“Le Cheminant used that popularity and significant position of trust to foster a closeness with pupils that he then often used to facilitate his offending.

“This abuse has taken a terrible toll on the lives of the victims. Now Le Cheminant has finally been brought to justice for his actions. This case very clearly demonstrates that no matter how long ago sexual abuse was committed, time is not a barrier, and victims can see justice done even after many years have passed.”

Le Cheminant was convicted following a trial at Portsmouth Crown Court in February 2022 of eight counts of indecent assault on a male person. He was found not guilty of one charge of indecent assault.

The judge ruled that there was ‘no case to answer’ on a further four charges of indecent assault, the CPS said.

At the first trial, the jury were unable to reach a verdict on three other charges of indecent assault and a re-trial took place in April 2023. Following the re-trial, Le Cheminant was convicted of the three counts of indecent assault on a male person. Sentencing will take place on June 16.

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