God almighty. 44 year old teacher has sex with 16 year old pupil and is spared prison

[EhricLovesTheBhrothers]

Because the girl groomed him rather than the other way around according to the judge.
www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2015/jan/14/former-london-teacher-convicted-over-affair-with-teenager

I'd be kinder Marjorie and wonder what in her past makes her think it's OK.

The fact is that the vast majority of people think that a young woman who looks like an adult and acts in a very adult and sexually persistent way is actually fair game to have a relationship with.

People are very, very wrong and very, very stupid.

The majority really think this.

Jesus, how totally messed up. She was FIFTEEN! The judge may as well have called her a little slag. How utterly foul.

Exactly scallops, it seems like the old psyco-babble about being in a depressed state so he couldn't control his man beast.

I can see why now we had the situation in Yorkshire/Bristol where the authorities were telling parents your daughter is a child prostitute, not that she has been groomed etc.

I thought we lived in a society that protected children. I'm in my 20s and if a 15 year old boy 'pursued' me I would bloody well go tell the head/ his parents/ make sure I was never anywhere near him. the thought of it knocks me sick.

Sometimes I think the legal age should be 18 like in America so there is no 'grey area' so fucking young.

DP just said "well clearly that judge was a Paedophile"

I asked him (at 40 odd) would he give in to temptation if a 15 year old came on to him and he looked disgusted and said "it doesn't matter what she did, he's the adult and she's the child, it's sick"

It shouldn't bloody matter. Teenagers often become infatuated with teachers, and teachers are expected to act as adults and professionals in a position of trust.

So glad to see this post, was just open mouthed reading the news.

How worrying it is that we have judges that obviously think that men can not help themselves. How do they judge rape cases

So a school girl has a crush on a teacher yet he can not give in to temptation. Oh but he did when it was convenient for him he took her to his own family home but that is not grooming I am quite sure he was not open about the fact they were having sex

Still in 2015 some can not rid themselves of the idea that men can not possibly have any control over their actions when sex is involved and worse someone in power to help make changes

It's fucking depressing

So tempted beyond bearing was he that he called her out of a lesson (presumably not one he was teaching) and took her into a storeroom to have sex, using the condom he had brought with him. Obviously the heat of the moment got to him.

At my all-girls school in the 1980s/90s the male teachers on the receiving end of any sort of crush behaviour made every effort to safeguard themselves and the girls involved. I thought society was meant to have progressed since then too.

Poor mannikin 'gave way to temptation when he was emotionally vulnerable due to wife's miscarriage'. But the girl 'was vulnerable and needy and had a troubled home life' so it was all her fault. She was intelligent and manipulative: he was not.

Yeah right. Good god above. Judge criticised, I should bloody hope so, isn't there some way of getting this overturned and stopping this judge from presiding over similar cases?

I had a friend who persued (and I mean persued) our very young and good looking chemistry teacher - she was 15, he maybe 22.

He was kind, made it clear it wasn't happening and then took care never to be alone with her. She (and we) were very disappointed at the time but now I look back and think thank f*ck he was professional. Because she was vulnerable and we (her friends) incredibly naive (had anything happened I'm sure we'd have agreed with her that it was true love and not said anything to anyone).

I'd like to think this will bring the issue to general attention and there will be an outcry. Poor girl. She may have been a willing participant but chances are it will cause her problems

Shocking beyond words.

What kind of training do judges get in dealing with these kinds of cases? None, I assume, apart from having to simply know and apply the law? Yet even at that, this judge bends the law to suit her misogynistic views.

:(

Yy, Lightening. Her behaviour is entirely symptomatic of a very vulnerable child whose life will only have been made worse by this betrayal by a trusted adult. And yet she is blamed. It's disgusting.

I am also very glad to see this thread. I was shocked to read this in the news today. The judiciary seems to have taken a huge step backwards today.

Isn't that why there's the special legal framework for positions of trust - that's the point. If you are trusted, you walk away even if a pupil strips naked and begs you. The level of "temptation" should be irrelevant. It's still burglary if the window is wide open or just ajar; it's still abusing trust whatever the actions of the vulnerable teenager.

FFS.

He didn't do anything to encourage her? Apart from say it was written in the stars, bring in a condom, drive her to places to have sex with her? This judge is a complete idiot.

I'm a teacher. It's very easy not to have sex with the kids, as you have the power to tell them to speak to you appropriately, tell them to get out of your classroom, report inappropriate behaviour to your line manager. We have child protection training which we have to update regularly, which reminds us not to have sex with the kids so he can hardly claim to have forgotten.

Did the judge not realise that a 15 year old who pursues a 44 year old teacher clearly has problems? 44 year olds should be wise enough to know that said 15 year old is not bowled over by looks and charm but probably needs attention, has a poor home life and a father issues. She might be intelligent but she's 15. He took advantage of her.

Is it possible to complain about a judge?

Yes; you can ask the DPP to review the sentence as well.

What message does this sound out? They may as well change the law to state that a man can have sex with a girl any age in any circumstances and it will be fine.

I don't just want this case reviewed I want the judge to be struck off and forced to go back to school because quite clearly she is incapable of doing her job or indeed any job where you are required to exercise a certain level of intelligence.

My best friend started a relationship with one of our teachers (43) when we were 16. No-one batted an eyelid, they would drive out of the school gates in his car, go out for lunch. Nothing was said, a sign of the times- it was in the 70's. THey eventually married and had kids ( and are still together)

Really depressing.

Just ticks so many victim-blaming boxes, many that are especially applied when the victim is a teenaged girl. Exactly the same sort of comments as were made about the girls in Rochester etc. That they were manipulative, knowing, that sort of thing. And going out to snare older men.

The "lessons" that were supposed to be learned from those scandals by the authorities generally have clearly not been internalised by this judge.