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UK Judge: Student Groomed Teacher...

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I'm definitely not ok with what the teacher did, but I think it's interesting to look at the girl's actions. It seems like we have two victims in this case, the girl and the teacher. It just so happens that we place the social responsibility on the older person. I think it's a fallacy to think that a child cannot be predatory. Adults can be just as emotionally vulnerable as children, I'm sure many here have encountered these types of emotionally stunted people.

Honestly both the man and the girl need help, and I don't think going to jail or being on the sex offender's list is the kind of help these people need. Looking at cases where the reverse happens, the teacher is a female and the student is a boy, it really points to some major problem with both parties who are unable to respect these social boundaries. Of course this only applies to situations where the student is within the age of consent.
 

Sane_Man

Member
I'm definitely not ok with what the teacher did, but I think it's interesting to look at the girl's actions. It seems like we have two victims in this case, the girl and the teacher. It just so happens that we place the social responsibility on the older person. I think it's a fallacy to think that a child cannot be predatory. Adults can be just as emotionally vulnerable as children, I'm sure many here have encountered these types of emotionally stunted people.

Honestly both the man and the girl need help, and I don't think going to jail or being on the sex offender's list is the kind of help these people need. Looking at cases where the reverse happens, the teacher is a female and the student is a boy, it really points to some major problem with both parties who are unable to respect these social boundaries. Of course this only applies to situations where the student is within the age of consent.

The main concern has to be to protect the minor in this case. Parents send their children to school under the assumption that they'll be protected. The teacher completely broke that trust and simply 'helping' him does nothing to deter this kind of thing happening in the future to other minors.
 
The main concern has to be to protect the minor in this case. Parents send their children to school under the assumption that they'll be protected. The teacher completely broke that trust and simply 'helping' him does nothing to deter this kind of thing happening in the future to other minors.

Not sure what you are protecting them from. 16 year olds have sex. She wanted to have sex with him. She was within the age of consent. She was not being taken advantage of, him being a teacher was more incidental to the situation rather than a cause for that situation.

I'm saying both these people need help because they are screwed up. The girl needs to learn that using sex to manipulate people is wrong and they guy needs to learn that being emotionally vulnerable is not an excuse to break the law. He definitely should be fired, but being on the sex offender's list for the rest of his life is too much in my opinion. I bet the girl is going to have a crazy hard time herself but with help can get over it.
 

lednerg

Member
I'm fine with the judge not seeking the maximum penalty in this situation. That should be reserved for cases in which a student is being manipulated, not the other way around. While I think it's gross that a 44 and 16 year old got it on, it's also normally within the limits of the law, the only factor here being that he was an authority figure.
 

Sane_Man

Member
Not sure what you are protecting them from. 16 year olds have sex. She wanted to have sex with him. She was within the age of consent. She was not being taken advantage of, him being a teacher was more incidental to the situation rather than a cause for that situation.

I'm saying both these people need help because they are screwed up. The girl needs to learn that using sex to manipulate people is wrong and they guy needs to learn that being emotionally vulnerable is not an excuse to break the law. He definitely should be fired, but being on the sex offender's list for the rest of his life is too much in my opinion. I bet the girl is going to have a crazy hard time herself but with help can get over it.

How are you possibly asserting that she manipulated him? Are you taking the judge's ridiculous summary as fact?

“As is clear from Annex C of the guidelines on prosecuting child sexual abuse, a 16-year-old girl cannot ‘groom’ an adult.

He is an authority figure and she is his student. By the very nature of this he has taken advantage of her. How you can state that him being a teacher is 'incidental' is beyond me.

Some of the attitudes in this thread are scary.
 
How are you possibly asserting that she manipulated him? Are you taking the judge's ridiculous summary as fact?



He is an authority figure and she is his student. By the very nature of this he has taken advantage of her. How you can state that him being a teacher is 'incidental' is beyond me.

Some of the attitudes in this thread are scary.

Legally she cannot, but I'm suggesting that maybe the real world situation isn't as black and white. I think it is possible that a 16 year old could be predatory and manipulative, and I think that is quite an indictment of modern society. I'm just saying it's worth looking at, not specifically for this case maybe, but in general. I understand people's initial knee-jerk reaction because it is uncomfortable to think a child could be like that.
 
Boiling down what was likely at least a multi day trial and sentencing into just a few paragraphs regarding the ruling and evidence and instead soliciting commentary from various folks outside the process to bulk up the article is probably not the best way to start a reasoned discussion on what actually happened here and why. But certainly this judge should be well aware of what happens these days and should have chosen her words far more carefully. Sounds like this teacher had a really good lawyer, this defense is straight out of a lifetime movie.
 

Summoner

Member
I don't believe in this teacher was groomed bullshit. Unless he was blackmailed/coerced or drugged by her , he had no excuse. He should have gotten a jail term.
 

BigDug13

Member
That excuses the teacher's actions, I suppose?

The teachers actions were not excused. He was found guilty of the crime. Not sure what amount of prison time will satisfy you, but he was found to be guilty.

How much jail time would satisfy those out for blood right now?

We're talking about a country that doesn't have 1% of their total population behind bars here.
 

jimbor

Banned
No, but it does show there was some responsibility on both sides.

The responsibility lies with the person in a position of trust, that's the whole point of the law.

If you're a forty ish year old man that can't turn down some jail bait opportunity, you need to have a word with yourself. Have you spoken to a sixteen year old girl recently? They're as uninteresting as fuck.
 

Lagamorph

Member
The responsibility lies with the person in a position of trust, that's the whole point of the law.

If you're a forty ish year old man that can't turn down some jail bait opportunity, you need to have a word with yourself. Have you spoken to a sixteen year old girl recently? They're as uninteresting as fuck.

It seems you're just looking at "teacher slept with student" and not bothering to look further into it or the circumstances.
The guy was going through the emotional trauma of his wife having a miscarriage and him losing a child and a girl described as a manipulative stalker has been making advances on him for a while now.
Like I've said, it doesn't excuse his actions or make them right, but it does show that, in this case at least, the responsibility was on both sides of this. She was a victim of him giving in to temptation, but he was a victim of emotional trauma and stalking that could very well constitute as grooming when looked at logically.

Yes, the guy did wrong, and he's been punished appropriately given what happened and the circumstances. He's on the sex offenders register, has received a suspended prison sentence for 18 months and has a lifetime ban on working with children ever again.

Why the hell is the knee jerk reaction as soon as anyone under the age of 18 is involved in something "THE ADULT IS A MONSTER AND SHOULD BE LOCKED UP FOR LIFE!!!!!11111"? Teenagers aren't stupid and shouldn't be treated as such. They can be intelligent and manipulative as hell.
 

jimbor

Banned
It seems you're just looking at "teacher slept with student" and not bothering to look further into it or the circumstances.
The guy was going through the emotional trauma of his wife having a miscarriage and him losing a child and a girl described as a manipulative stalker has been making advances on him for a while now.
Like I've said, it doesn't excuse his actions or make them right, but it does show that, in this case at least, the responsibility was on both sides of this. She was a victim of him giving in to temptation, but he was a victim of emotional trauma and stalking that could very well constitute as grooming when looked at logically.

Yes, the guy did wrong, and he's been punished appropriately given what happened and the circumstances. He's on the sex offenders register, has received a suspended prison sentence for 18 months and has a lifetime ban on working with children ever again.

Why the hell is the knee jerk reaction as soon as anyone under the age of 18 is involved in something "THE ADULT IS A MONSTER AND SHOULD BE LOCKED UP FOR LIFE!!!!!11111"? Teenagers aren't stupid and shouldn't be treated as such. They can be intelligent and manipulative as hell.

I'm struggling to see where I said that.
 

jimbor

Banned

How is that even remotely similar to "THE ADULT IS A MONSTER AND SHOULD BE LOCKED UP FOR LIFE!!!!!11111"

I've not commented on the sentence, I was addressing the apologists. I think it's right that he's on the sex offenders register and it's just that he can never work with children again. Some jail time wouldn't have gone amiss but I'm not overly bothered. I'm more bothered by the summing up of the judge.

There's one victim here, that's it.
 

cjp

Junior Member
Boiling down what was likely at least a multi day trial and sentencing into just a few paragraphs regarding the ruling and evidence and instead soliciting commentary from various folks outside the process to bulk up the article is probably not the best way to start a reasoned discussion on what actually happened here and why.

Bingo.
 

SapientWolf

Trucker Sexologist
How are you possibly asserting that she manipulated him? Are you taking the judge's ridiculous summary as fact?



He is an authority figure and she is his student. By the very nature of this he has taken advantage of her. How you can state that him being a teacher is 'incidental' is beyond me.

Some of the attitudes in this thread are scary.
That's just looking at the ages and occupations and then jumping to conclusions. It's a possibility, but there's no way to know with certainty if that's the narrative of this specific case. The mere existence of these laws helps to prevent that type of exploitation, which is why they're important.
 

StayDead

Member
That some people excuse rape by basically saying that men can't control their urges.

Not exactly sure where rape is involved, both of them were above the age of consent. The law that comes into effect here is that people in positions of power are not allowed to have sex with their students or patients or whatever.
 
Q

Queen of Hunting

Unconfirmed Member
Bexleyheath? Just 2 towns over from where I live. I wonder if there will be anything about it in the local paper.

which direction im orpington, weird how close it is
 
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