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A Assistant teacher sent text messages to the mother of a student of hers to convince her that her son was safe, before having sexual intercourse with him in a parking lot of a store in England.
Hannah Harris, aged 23, established an intimate relationship with the young of 14 years at a school in Hoddesdon, Hertfordshire, where she taught.
The St. Albans Crown Court heard that Harris, who had 21 years at the time, she deceived the boy’s parents by sending them a text message claiming to be the mother of the fictitious girlfriend of his student.
Harris had sex with the boy in a Wilko parking lot after posing as the mother of his fictional girlfriend, whom he she called “Kayla”, to talk to her parents through text messages.
Harris and the boy also exchanged messages on social networks and met outside of school, which included her taking him to supermarkets “to buy his favorite sweets”, take him to McDonald’s and let him smoke cannabis in his car.
Harris was jailed today for six years after being found guilty of sexual activity with a child. The former teaching assistant had denied the charges.
She said her name was Olivia and that she lived in Baldock, Hertfordshire.
In a text, Harris wrote: “Kayla and… (the boy) seem to get along so I’m happy to take them.”
Prosecutor Simon Wilshire told St Albans Crown Court: “Both parents believed they had spoken to Olivia on the phone and her mother had exchanged text messages .
“Kayla and Olivia’s names were fictitious to hide the fact that they were meeting.
“In fact, the parents were talking to Mrs. Harris, since that was the number they had been given for Olivia”.
Harris was arrested in January 2020, when the boy’s older brother found out.
The boy admitted that “Olivia” and “Kayla” were fictitious.
Wilshire said: “The parents realized that they had unknowingly facilitated the contact. The boy had tricked them into believing that she was dating someone her own age.”
She continued: “As an assistant teacher at the school of she, she (Harris) knew her age; such activity is a criminal offence, regardless of whether he believed it to be voluntary.”
Harris, from Henlow, Bedfordshire, denied four counts. of sexual activity with a child in December 2019 and January 2020.
She was found not guilty on three of the four charges.
The sexual encounters are alleged to have taken place twice in Dunstable Downs and once at his home.
In sentencing Harris today, Judge Caroline Wigin told him: “Your conduct has had a devastating effect in the life of that young man”.
Found that Harris’s behavior constituted a “breach of trust”, “preparation” and involved “significant planning”.
“It seems to me that he disregarded all the warnings he had,” said Judge Wigin.
Harris began to sob when the judge pronounced the sentence.
Before the sentence, Julia Flanagan, in defense, argued that the messages and trips had not been specifically aimed at facilitating a sexual relationship with the child.
Judge Wigin interrupted and said: “It is completely inappropriate to enter into a relationship of any kind”, before adding that Harris would have realized this from his training.
“She chose to ignore that. He chose to abuse this trust,” the judge added.
Flanagan also argued that Harris did not “specifically target this particular child” as he was the one who first messaged her and initially engaged in that communication.
The defense attorney added that a conviction of this type “will follow her forever” and will be “a lifelong punishment for what she did.”
“She bitterly regrets having become involved with (the child) and wanted me to tell the court that she had no intention of causing him any harm.”
She will serve half of her sentence in custody and the rest on leave.
She has also been placed on the sex offender registry “indefinitely” .
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