A CAMPAIGN has been launched to strip a disgraced music teacher of his MBE after he was jailed for eight years for raping and sexually abusing pupils.

Peter Antonelli taught children how to play the piano at schools in East Lothian and was jailed in December last year after jurors found him guilty of rape and indecent assault charges against six of his former pupils.

Antonelli, 66, was said by a judge to have left his victims with “considerable and lasting emotional damage” due to the sexual abuse he inflicted between 1980 and 2005.

The once-highly-respected teacher was awarded an MBE for services to musical education in the New Year's Honours list at the end of 2004.

But demands are now being made for the prestigious honour to be removed, with a petition set up to have Antonelli's MBE “revoked and taken away”.

It is also believed that at least two of Antonelli’s victims have been in contact with the Honours Forfeiture Committee regarding the situation.

READ MORE: Peter Antonelli: Disgraced music teacher jailed for raping pupils

The online petition states: “The protection of children is our aim. We know Peter Antonelli received an MBE for his work with children with music education.

“Peter Antonelli is now in jail for the rape and abuse of the children in his care when he was a piano teacher in East Lothian and we are demanding his MBE be revoked and taken away.

“Please sign this petition. Thank you.”

The petition is available here.

The UK Cabinet Office Forfeiture Committee has been contacted for comment.

Antonelli, from Gullane, was found guilty by a jury of charges including rape, lewd and libidinous practices, and indecent assault following a trial at the High Court in Edinburgh last year.

The court was told that the disgraced teacher used his position to groom and abuse young girls in his care, and that he admitted to having a sexual relationship with one girl when she turned 17 and he was 31.

In sentencing, Judge Jamie Gilchrist said: “I accordingly recognise that, during your working life, you earned yourself a position of status and respect within your local community, both as a piano teacher and also as the founder and leader of musical groups for both children and adults.

“It is clear that in both those areas, you made a positive contribution to the musical life of the region, and I have no doubt that there will be many people who feel that they benefitted from your talent and your hard work.

“However, the jury found that, over a period of more than 20 years, you used and exploited your position to sexually abuse no less than six pupils when they were still children under the age of 16.”

Antonelli was jailed for eight years and placed on the sex offenders' register for life.

A BBC programme – Disclosure: Abused By My Teacher – detailing the sex abuse scandal involving Antonelli was aired earlier this year.

READ MORE: Peter Antonelli: Survivors share horrific accounts of sexual assault

The TV programme investigated how Antonelli rose to the top of instrumental music education while raping and abusing the girls he taught.

Antonelli had a distinguished 40-year career in music education and amateur dramatics, and reporter Tamanna Rahman spoke to his victims and revealed loopholes in the regulation of children’s performing arts in Scotland.

Former pupils and staff described how their warnings were ignored and how he was allowed to continue to abuse young girls for decades.