Alan Ackers, a 57-year-old former teacher from Firlands, was sentenced at Guildford Crown Court on Friday, August 4 after being found guilty of seven charges of indecently assaulting boys and young men.

Ackers, who once taught at St George's College in Weybridge, pleaded guilty to two charges of distributing indecent photographs of boys under 16.

He lured boys to his home through adverts offering a modelling career before indecently assaulting them during photographic shoots.

In 1991 Ackers was also convicted at Guildford Crown Court of three offences of indecent assaults on boys and several offences of taking indecent photographs of children. He was sentenced to 21 months in prison.

Sentencing Ackers Judge John Bull told him: "I am driven to the conclusion that you are a predatory paedophile who is unwilling to acknowledge or change his ways."

He said Ackers took advantage of vulnerable boys, some of whom were homeless or students who needed money.

David Jeremy, prosecuting, said police raided Ackers' Weybridge home in June last year and seized 45,000 photographs of nude or semi-naked men.

He appeared to be running a business where the photographs were supplied to customers whose names and addresses were on computer.

Judge Bull ordered the confiscation of his two computers and that Ackers be deprived of cameras, developing equipment, negatives and prints involved in the case.

Jeffrey Pegden, defending, said his client had genuinely believed the youths in the photographs to be over 16 and the indecent assaults amounted to opportunistic touches.

Weybridge residents have voiced extreme concern about the future safety of children and raised the ugly spectre of vigilante attacks in the wake of recent events.

A Weybridge resident who did not want to be named said: "These people should be in secure accommodation where they can be monitored.

"From what I've seen and heard paedophiles themselves have said they can't be cured but can be treated."

He said Ackers could be out in three years and could be a danger to children and his own protection would be in question if he is not kept in secure accommodation.

But Sergeant Laurence Milligan of Surrey Police rejected suggestions that Ackers would be free to prey on children once released.

He would be required to register on the sex offenders list and be monitored by the police as are all repeat offenders including paedophiles.

Sgt Milligan added that in 1991, when Ackers was previously convicted, there was no requirement for paedophiles to tell the police where they lived or what their movements were.

A court order prevented the Comet and other newspapers reporting on the case earlier because of a related trial heard at Guildford Crown last week.