David Tuohy, 83, was found dead in the River Thames near his Oxford home just days before he was due to be sentenced for historic sexual assualts

A former headmaster who was found guilty of molesting boys as young as ten at a special needs school in the 1970s has been found dead just days before he was due to be sentenced.

The body of David Tuohy, 83, was found floating in the River Thames close to his home in Oxford earlier this week.

He was due to be sentenced at Norfolk Crown Court on Monday after earlier being found guilty of 15 counts of sexual assault following a nine-day trial.

He was in charge of Eccles Hall School, in Quidenham, Norfolk, in the 1970s when he carried out the indecent and serious sexual assaults against five pupils, who all had special needs and were under 13.

Norfolk police confirmed Tuohy had been found dead in the River Thames and said his death was being treated as 'unexplained but not suspicious'.

A spokesman said: 'Norfolk Constabulary can confirm 83-year-old David William Tuohy who was due to be sentenced after being found guilty of a string of sexual offences against pupils at an independent school has died.'

A Thames Valley Police spokesman said a body was reported in the water at around 6pm on Tuesday and the man was declared dead at the scene after being recovered by police divers.

Officers had been called to the Osney Lock area of Oxford after a member of the public reported a bloodstain and a watch.

Tuohy's family and victims have been informed of his death, police confirmed.

Last month, Norfolk Crown Court heard how Tuohy liked to discipline boys who came to the school from different parts of the UK and found themselves alone, isolated and separated from their families.

He was also said to be 'obsessed with spanking' and the prosecution said he had a 'particular deviant sexual fascination with the bottoms of very young boys.'

Prosecutor Andrew Shaw added: 'It was a boarding school which catered for children who had not thrived in mainstream education in areas all over the country - in today's language we would say they had special educational or behavioural needs.

'They were separated from their families and plunged in to an unfamiliar environment.

'As one of the people charged with the duty of caring for these children, he abused the trust placed in him and used these children for his own sexual gratification.'

Detective Constable Faith Morris, from Norfolk Police, said Tuohy had used a position of 'absolute trust' to abuse his victims.

'The fact Tuohy pleaded not guilty to all counts meant his victims were forced to relive the traumatic events which occurred all those years ago,' she said of his trial.

Tuohy was a headmaster at Eccles Hall in Quidenham, Norfolk, (pictured) in the 1970s when he indecently assaulted five pupils - all of whom had special needs and were aged under 13. He was convicted of 15 charges

Tuohy was originally arrested in June last year and charged with four counts of indecent assault and four counts of buggery against one victim.

Four further victims then came forward resulting in Tuohy being charged with a further 14 indecent assaults.

All of the charges related to five boys, who were aged under 13, between September 1972 and March 1983.

He was found not guilty of three of the indecent assault charges and the four buggery charges but convicted of the remaining 15 indecent assaults.

The sex abuse came to light when one of the victims reported it to police, prompting other victims to come forward.

Eccles Hall, which is now known as the New Eccles Hall School, is an independent day and boarding school in East Anglia for children aged seven to 18.