PE Teacher Charged For Having Sex With Her 15-Year-Old Student
The Teacher Has Admitted to Four Counts of Sexual Activity
A PE teacher was charged with the offence of sexually abusing her pupil. The teacher, Emily Fox, from Bath had sex with her student at an all-girls private school. She was charged for abusing a 15-year-old student four times.
The 26 year old Fox committed the offences in 2012-2013 at the Royal Masonic School for Girls in Rickmansworth, Hertfordshire. She was put in jail for fifteen months and her name will be on the sex offenders register for the next ten years.
Fox exchanges several sexually explicit messages with the teenager via email, text and WhatsApp. They later took the relationship forward and had sex several times. Fox was caught in August last year when the 15-year-old girl's father caught the girl trying to take a print out of an email. The police were immediately called.
Judge Stephen Gullick told Fox, "The character references are glowing and your career shows you were gifted and well liked. This career will never be available to you again". He stated that she had responsibilities to keep up and the protection of the girl was in her hand. By resorting to such acts, she has broken the trust of the parents and this behaviour he called as "extremely grave". "In my judgement, you were always aware of your relationship with the victim. It was not only unwise but unlawful", he added.
Sally Mealing-McLeod, prosecuting, said that they had received an abundance of evidence through WhatsApp messages. After the print out was discovered, the court heard that there were messages trying to "cover up" the relationship.
The court heard that Fox was teaching in the school from 2010 and she also admitted to four counts of sexual activity with a child while in a position of trust at St. Albans Crown Court last August 7.
Dee Connelly, mitigating Fox, said that it takes great courage and bravery to accept such an offence and Fox has felt "remorse and contrition". She further told the judge to consider the age gap between the two, which was "not that great". She said, "The defendant is gravely concerned about the impact on the victim".
Fox was made the subject of a Sexual Offence Prevention Order.
Fox has also put the reputation of the institution at stake. The Royal Masonic School for Girls was founded in 1788 to educate the daughters of Freemasons, who could not support and take care of their families. The yearly fee of the school is £25,500.
