Teacher who sexually abused grieving girl is locked up
A teacher sexually abused a teenage girl while supposedly comforting her after she became upset about a funeral, a court heard.
Jeremy Day later went on to carry out two more serious sex assaults on the girl after offering her a lift.
Now retired, Day had denied three charges of indecently assaulting her – but was found guilty following a trial.
At Warwick Crown Court this week Day, aged 72, of Nursery Avenue, Walsall, was jailed for four-and-a-half years and ordered to register as a sex offender for life.
Prosecutor Miss Lynette McClement said the offences took place in the 1990s.
The first incident happened when the girl became upset about the funeral.
Day put his arms round her shoulder to comfort her – then put his other hand under her skirt, Miss McClement said.
The court heard that the later incidents took place on two occasions after
Day had offered the girl a lift to her home.
But instead he took her to Slacky Lane, bordered on both sides by trees, where he stopped and got her to move into the front of the car before sexually assaulting her.
In her evidence, the victim had said: “He was talking to me and took off his seatbelt and turned to face me. He touched the side of my face with his fingertips.
“I tried to shuffle further back.”
The next incident ‘followed the same routine’, the court heard.
Mr Ben Close, defending, said: “Aside from these few months, he has led an entirely exemplary life.
“He was a teacher who was highly regarded.”
He added: “We are dealing with three specific incidents, not a pattern of offences, and he voluntarily desisted.”
Mr Close said Day suffers from medical conditions including chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and suggested: “The prison sentence is going to bite particularly hard on this man, and may indeed shorten his life expectancy.”
Jailing Day, Judge Barry Berlin read out parts of the victim’s impact statement in which she addressed Day directly, saying: “What you did to me has not just affected my life, it has taken over and controlled it.
“The way I have lived my life has been dictated by you.
“Because of this I don’t let men get close to me.”
Judge Berlin told Day: “She was particularly vulnerable due to personal circumstances, which is quite separate from the breach of trust.
“You knew about those and took advantage of them.”
