York teacher jailed for having 18-month relationship with pupil

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-york-north-yorkshire-37483895

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A maths teacher has been jailed after having a sexual relationship with a teenage pupil.

Christopher Stephenson had an 18-month relationship with the girl from Grey Coat Hospital School in Westminster.

After sending messages on Facebook, he took her for day trips and a night out.

At Southwark Crown Court on Monday, the 32-year-old from York was given a 20-month jail sentence after admitting a charge of sexual activity with a child by a person in a position of trust.

Judge Alistair McCreath, sentencing, told him: "If anybody had it fresh in his mind that teachers should keep their hands off pupils, it must be a newly-qualified teacher over all others."

Stephenson, of Third Avenue, started seeing the girl when she was 16.

They began communicating online in 2007 after she "poked" him on Facebook, the court heard.

'Young and foolish'

Gregor McKinley, prosecuting, said that on one occasion they went to Camden in London, got drunk and he took her back to his house and put her to bed.

He added: "On another occasion she says she was persuaded to sleep in his bed without her top on and was awoken by him taking a photograph of her without her top on."

Their relationship continued after she turned 18 and eventually ended in 2009, with Stephenson leaving the school that year for another job.

Last year he was nominated for a teacher of the year award while head of maths at Fulford School in York, where he no longer teaches.

Kevin Blount QC, defending, said Stephenson was "young and foolish" when it happened, adding: "His life is in tatters at a relatively young age because of a mistake he made when he was 23 or 24."

Stephenson was also ordered to sign the sex offenders register for 10 years.