Unregistered

A lesbian teacher was jailed for a year yesterday for having a steamy fling with a 15-year-old schoolgirl.

Justine Rowe, 34, had sex sessions with the pupil in her office between lessons when they kissed and fondled each other’s breasts.

The pair also romped on a school trip when they shared a bed.

The court heard that the English teacher made her first move by touching the girl’s hand at a “readathon” event.

She then started sending texts to the youngster’s mobile, saying in one message she felt they were “more than just friends.”

The girl replied that she felt the same.

Rowe, who was in charge of liaising with students and parents at the East Berkshire school, invited the pupil into her office and they had “a proper kiss with tongues”.

Prosecutor Abigail Husbands said the pair began “feeling each other’s breasts over and under their clothes” during their secret meetings.

Unmarried Rowe, of Sandhurst, Berks, also befriended the girl’s parents.

She arranged extra English lessons for her after school during which the pair held hands under the table.

Meanwhile her trysts in the office with the girl, who had then turned 16, “became more sexual in nature”.

They also slept together on an overnight school trip to the Commonwealth Games in Manchester.

The girl spent the whole night in Rowe’s room where they had oral sex.

The teenager said she “was happy for this to happen”, the court was told.

Rowe, who was earmarked as a future headteacher, was arrested when the girl told her parents about the fling several months after it ended.

Rowe yesterday admitted having sex while in a position of trust.

She was put on the sex offenders’ register and banned from working with children.

The court heard Rowe, dressed in a grey suit and with cropped blonde-streaked hair, was very remorseful.

Judge Zoe Smith told weeping Rowe at Reading Crown Court she had distressed the girl’s parents, disgraced the school and left her victim confused.