OxfordBags that Charlie Brooker quote is BRILLIANT. I wish I had said it.
flippinada thank you for your concern. The news story is triggering and very upsetting, not just for me but I know for other posters who can't be as involved in the debate because of the stage they're at in getting over their own teacher/student abuse. It happened to me more than ten years ago now and whilst it would be inaccurate to say I am over it (because I don't think I ever will be- he was my first relationship and first sexual relationship, so inevitably it leaves its mark) I am lucky enough to be at a stage where I have had (and am having) therapy and have a loving and supportive husband.
My worry is that I don't think a lot of people understand quite the dynamics of a romantic/sexual relationship that is as imbalanced as this. It isn't just that he has abused his position of trust, but as I said earlier in the thread, that she will feel entirely that she can't say no to him. When he mouthed "I love you" across the courtroom, what he was really saying was "this is your fault and you owe me". The fact that she said sorry only strengthens that. My own teacher/abuser used to tell me that when it all came out I would be in as much trouble as he was and that my family and friends would hate and turn against me. I was a very intelligent 16 year old who logically knew that this wasn't true, but that didn't stop me from believing him. For the girl in the Forrest case it is likely that he told her this and that she now feels not only that she is in as much trouble as him, but also probably blames herself. The fact that he is still keeping her hanging only proves that the abuse is ongoing.
Based on the evidence that she gave in court it also has to be faced that at some point he crossed the line and had sex with her and managed to make her believe that it was her fault or her responsibility that they were having sex. If it was anything like what happened to me then he did all the running sexually, right up until the act of intercourse when he said he "couldn't do it" and then she had to step in and say she wanted it. To his mind then he would be absolved of all responsibility. I am not saying for one second that she didn't want to have sex with him- I definitely and completely wanted to have sex with my teacher/abuser- but I was in love with him and I was 16. I didn't know what sex entailed and I certainly didn't know what sex with a 30+ year old man entailed. This isn't innocent Romeo and Juliet fumblings that are what pass as most peoples first sexual encounters.
I also think that you need to face just how much lying Forrest did. I am a teacher myself now and to get to the point where you can have sex with a pupil you need to have broken so many rules and lied to so many people. In fact, to get to the point where you can be alone with a pupil is difficult enough. This wasn't a quick thing, he will have been planning this and scheming and coming up with lies and excuses for a long time. That level of cunning is nothing short of grooming, not just a passion that overcame him and that he was powerless to resist.
I know that this has been mentioned too, but if it was really love, if he loved her, he wouldn't have put her through being in court and testifying. He would have told her to not be there and not have to face the glare of publicity and scrutiny of the prosecuting counsel. In fact, I would go as far as to say that if he loved her what he would have done is have sorted out his own shit, got out of his marriage and waited a couple of years until she was 18. The relationship still, in my opinion, would not have been a healthy one, but it would have proven a moral and professional integrity that is woefully absent here. Good God, he didn't even have the self control to wait until she was legally old enough to have sex!
And lastly, I want to pose the question about his maturity levels. I have been 15 and 16 and know how strong your feelings can be. When I was 16 I was swept up in the drama of it all... I thought I was in a novel. But life has a way of sobering you up, and now in my late twenties I know I couldn't be as easily coaxed into drama again. My teacher/abuser and Forrest are/were both adult men in their 30s, not sixth formers. If you are writing soppy love songs to 15 year old girls, getting your ego boosted by the attentions of 15 year old girls and thinking running away is the answer to your problems then you have the maturity levels and sense of a sixth former. And whilst it is no crime to be immature, it is a recipe for disaster when you are putting someone with that level of immaturity and recklessness in charge of teenagers with all their silliness and hormones. Teenagers don't know what's best for them... if they did then they wouldn't need us telling them to do their homework, revise and tidy their rooms. Teachers are extensions of parents in the regard that part of our job is to tell kids what to do. That is a lot of influence and the teacher/student dynamic works on the basis that the teacher has good intentions and isn't out for their own ends.
Sorry for the epic post, but to those of you saying this a "forbidden love story" Jeez, go back to your Twilight novels and stop defending a rapist. Once you've walked a mile in my shoes and the shoes of millions of others who have been victims to this kind of abuse then maybe you might feel differently.