Jeremy Forrest verdict - aibu to be confused?

[noddyboulder]

Yep, I don't think even his own parents could deny he's a massive, hideous scumbag with no impulse control - but how can he have been found guilty of abduction when the girl he had an affair with said it was her idea to go to France and she went willingly?

Can somebody legal shed some light?

If it's shown he perverted the course of justice via a 3rd party he might get even longer.

Good.

I can't understand why anyone is confused.
He was committing adultery - Mnetters do not usually approve.
He was being paid to teach this child.
Teenagers having crushes on teachers happens. Teachers know that and deal with it.
If he really loved her, why could he not wait until she was sixteen ?
She would not have been threatening suicide if she had not been involved with her in the first place.
He should not have put her parents through the trauma of her disappearance.
We want to send our children to schools where they will be safe not where they will be exploited. I can't see why anyone has a problem with his sentence.

Yes.

Imagine if he was a doctor or policeman? Just because there are YouTube clippings of him being all swoony playing the guitar like some indie kid does not mean he wasn't in a position of authority and power. Power he used to get her into a sexual relationship.

Oh Lord, does he have children? That makes it even more horrible - that a father could do this to a child, a 14yo. And those poor kids, growing up to know their father is an abuser.

What the same media forums that cried Jimmy Savile what is the point in hearing the truth now he is dead or worse

Hopefully as this story goes on people will educate themselves more as already others are coming forward. Of course some would prefer us to live in a country where men can get away with this sort of behaviour or anything they do not want to confront is swept under the carpet but thankfully it is not

And then there are those who like to remain ignorant

He doesn't have DCs as far as I know. "Just" a wife.

People who are sticking up for him presumably would be fine if their son or daughter developed a crush on a teacher at 14 for the teacher to reciprocate, sleep with him or her and go away to France without you knowing where they were?

and went of her own free will, and was completely unharmed and complicit.
I very much doubt it. She probably has no idea what free will is at the moment. She went off with a man who has manipulated her into thinking she has free will, a man who it seems has been aiming to have some sort of affair with a teen for some time, a man who appears to be lacking a moral compass.
Out of interest Bran, how old was the boyfriend you moved in with? Was he 15 years older, a teacher or in a position of authority?
I'm afraid consent really doesn't just come down to two willing parties.

I think it's entirely possible or even likely that the girl involved was troubled and unhappy at home. Maybe her parents weren't doing the best they could for her. That actually makes what he did worse!

And if we're going to start calling her parents behaviour into question; let's look at his family as well. How is it that he was bought up to think this kind of behaviour was ok? Why were his family making excuses for him in court?

i was 16 and he was 18, so not the same.

And I think rape is sex with someone when they didnt want to have sex

BTW my Daily Mail post has disappeared now. Still plenty of support for Forrest there...& comments such as 'hardly any 15 year olds are virgins anyway so what's the fuss?'. I almost despair.

It has not been a good year for women, young girls and children anyway, case after case has come to light recently indicating how widespread crimes of sexual exploitation are. And no wonder when so many people think this way, that underage girls are effectively up for grabs and there is no need to respect their innocence. That is the reality of our country today.

and I think consent SHOULD come down entirely to two willing parties.

Like for medical procedures - gillick competency

Once again, the general consensus on mn does is not consistent with the general consensus of society. I guess that's because many have teenage daughters, so are understandably more aggrieved.
for me, yes he was foolish, but it's nonsense to put him in the same camp as a paedophile of prepubescent girls.

In which case Bran, it may well have been rape. It's looking increasingly likely that she wasn't capable of making a decision regarding consensual sex.

He didn't have to wait until she was 16. By law he had to wait till she was 18, or he could have changed jobs and moved to another school. AFAIK the law on teacher/student relationships only apply if they are at the same school/college.

He is (present tense) sinister, not foolish. He is still controlling her, via some accomplice who persuaded her to change her evidence. He singled her out, aged 14, and groomed her. He alienated her from her family. He abused her and abducted her. He abused his position of trust and authority. Why is that so hard for some people to understand?

"Foolish" ?

Foolish is leaving the freezer door open. Not initiating a minor into a sexual relationship and taking her to France.

Apparently there are other girls coming out to say he attempted to groom them to. I think it will emerge that he's a manipulative character with a very unhealthy sexual interest in underage young teens.

There is more at play than two consensual adults, Bran. Ergo, that cannot be all that affects the decision.

Typos .... Apologies. Too etc.

I'm relieved that I don't agree with sway of opinion on Daily Mail. And I don't think what happens on daily mail comments is representative of society either.

I don't know whether DM comments are representative of society Sauce, but unfortunately they represent how a large portion of people think.

I don't think 'foolish' is the appropriate word arethereanyleft, for a man who deliberately disregarded the codes of conduct of his profession, systematically groomed and seduced a child, planned the abduction of her having done his research as to what he could get away with if he took her abroad. I would rather not quibble over whether or not he is a 'paedophile' a word which denotes a very specific type of pervert. He is a despicable person who richly deserves his punishment.

She's a kid, he's a goat faced inadequate. That's really all there is to it.

And I think rape is sex with someone when they didnt want to have sex

Bran you are joking aren't you... So according to your note and logic, a 11/12/13/14/15 year old child (we could go younger) that is groomed and manipulated by an adult and doesn't object to the sex as a result of the grooming hasn't been raped. Is that what you are saying?

Arethere Foolish... You must be joking too.. His a predator and its now coming to light that she wasn't the first he tried to groom. She just happened to be the one he managed to manipulate..

I am glad his been locked up. It's a shame Jimmy Saville and the rest of the preditors that have been exposed recently weren't locked up like Jeremy on there first offence. Maybe if they law had done on those cases what they did on this case we wouldn't have hundreds of abused victims now that have been living in agonising silence. They would have all been locked up on their first offences. We should be protecting our young and not making excuses for predatory adults.

I hadn't realised she wasn't the first. Ok then, if that's the case, I'll change my.opinion to agree with majority and say he's sick.
I think if she was the only one, and hed never before shown any such interest, I could believe it was a love story. But, more than one girl, changes this whole thing for me.