The 44-year-old man was the founder of the Moulin-Neuf, a theatre in Aigle, a mountain town in the canton of Vaud, 43 kilometres east of the Vaud capital.

The teacher sexually abused many adolescents at the theatre between 2000 and 2010, the court was told, according to a report from the ATS news agency.

He admitted to the principal charges of having “sexual acts with children” and sexual coercion.

The former teacher took advantage of his position to pursue sado-masochistic relations with certain students, some of whom were as young as 15, according to court testimony.

In the most serious case, after resorting to more and more extreme activities, he would stop only when the victim was exhausted and in tears, ATS reported.

The man admitted to sexual relations with four of his students, only one of whom lodged a complaint.

In testimony to the court, the former students said they were in love with the teacher and accepted his abuse for fear of losing his affection, ATS said.

Two other adolescents had filed a complaint about the teacher playing them with wine, with one of the complainants saying she had been touched and exhibited in front of other students.

The teacher told the court the “perversions” gave him pleasure and he imagined that this pleasure was shared.

But said he now regrets the acts and apologized to the victims.

In its judgment, the court condemned his “disgraceful, revolting and abject behaviour”, calling him a manipulator with a “crushing culpability”.