Teacher jailed for secretly filming pupils undressing

A former drama teacher at an exclusive Melbourne school has been jailed for 21 months after he secretly filmed students undressing with a camera hidden under his desk.

Mark Robert Stratford, 49, who acted in the movie Chopper and has written for TV soap Neighbours, would ask the girls to change into a "skimpy" dress in his office.

The Victorian County Court was told on August 9 that he filmed three girls, all aged under 16, between 2008 and early 2009.

Stratford, who played a prison classification officer in Chopper, was also found with child pornography on his computer.

He pleaded guilty to producing child pornography, possessing child pornography and installing a surveillance device without consent.

Judge Phillip Coish said Stratford would have been aware of the wrongfulness of his actions.

"The circumstances of the offence of producing child pornography involved a gross breach of trust," the Sydney Morning Herald quoted Judge Coish as saying.

"There is a degree of planning and sophistication involved in the offending. The exploitation of children for sexual gratification is deplorable," he stated.

Judge Coish ordered Stratford serve a non-parole period of 14 months, and he will be a registered sexual offender for 15 years.