Former Essex choirmaster and teacher charged with sex offences across 40 years

David Pickthall, 65, from Suffolk, is accused of committing the offences against 19 people between 1980 and 2021. Credit: ITV

A former choirmaster and teacher has been charged with child sexual offences spanning over 40 years.

David Pickthall, 65, of Cheveley Park in Suffolk has been charged as part of an investigation by Essex Police into alleged offences against 19 people between 1980 and 2021.

The offences are alleged to have occurred in Brentwood and the Havering area.

Pickthall has been charged with 24 counts of indecent assault, 10 counts of observing a person doing a private act, and three counts of making an indecent image of a child.

Essex Police said Pickthall had been working as a choirmaster in Havering and a teacher in Brentwood during some of the time period in which he is accused of the offences.

He is due to appear before Colchester Magistrates' Court on 8 October.

Anyone with information relating to the investigation is asked to contact police quoting the crime reference number 42/238353/21.

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