Kenneth Francis assaulted four boys who were pupils at a school in the Chelmsford area.

The attacks took place at locations including the school and his then home in Boreham between 1972 and 1979.

On some occasions he gave alcohol to the victims – who were all under 16 – before assaulting them.

The offences came to light in April 2017 when one of the victims reported that Francis had sexually assaulted him.

Francis, now 72, of Akasaka in Tokyo, was voluntarily interviewed in July 2017 and was arrested and further interviewed in July 2018.

In October 2018, he was charged with 13 counts of indecent assault and four counts of committing an act of gross indecency.

He stood trial at Chelmsford Crown Court on Monday 15 July 2019 and was convicted on Friday 2 August 2019 of all the charges.