WA teacher jailed for inappropriate photos

A former Perth high school teacher who took inappropriate photographs of female students and collected child exploitation material has been jailed for two years and nine months.

Peter Bernard McCormick, 62, had been employed at the school for 16 years when he was caught by another teacher taking photographs of girls in their swimwear, focusing on their breasts and buttocks, at sports carnivals and school excursions.

"Many were angled in such a way as to suggest you had taken the pictures in a deliberate and secretive manner," District Court of WA judge Vicki Stewart said on Friday.

Police raided his home and seized electronic devices, finding almost 44,500 child exploitation images and more than 300 child exploitation videos.

Some of them were in the worst category, including a degree of sadism and involving children as young as three.

In his interview with police, he admitted collecting the material had been an obsession for several years.

Judge Stewart said she had the sad task of viewing a sample of the material and found it disturbing.

"I understand you paid a monthly subscription for that material," she said.

"Mr McCormick, you understood what you were doing and the conduct you were engaging in."

She said McCormick, who was the "unofficial photographer" at the school, engaged in repeated and persistent offending that only ended when he was caught by a colleague.

McCormick will be eligible for parole when he has served half of his term.