A FORMER teacher has been sentenced to 12 months in prison, suspended for 18 months, after admitting to abusing his position of trust by engaging in a sexual relationship with one of his teenage students.
Calvin Kingsbury, 29, who taught at a secondary school in Wales, began exchanging messages with the 17-year-old victim on Instagram, which quickly turned flirtatious.
According to prosecution barrister Alycia Carpanini, Kingsbury instructed the victim to delete their messages after each conversation and to keep their relationship a secret. The messages then became more explicit, with Kingsbury commenting on the victim’s appearance and expressing surprise that she was still a virgin.
The court heard that the victim intended to visit Kingsbury’s home, where the pair kissed and performed sexual acts on each other. The victim later ended the relationship due to its impact on her education.
Kingsbury, who is now divorced, left his job as a teacher following the incident and has expressed remorse for his actions. In mitigation, his defence barrister Dan Jones highlighted that he had no previous convictions and had made full admissions regarding his offending.
Sentencing Kingsbury at Swansea Crown Court, Judge Catherine Richards acknowledged that he was remorseful and not a danger to the public. She imposed a suspended sentence of 12 months, a rehabilitation requirement order of 30 days, and 180 hours of unpaid work. Kingsbury must also sign the Sex Offenders’ Register for a period of 10 years and is prohibited from making any contact with the victim for three years.
The victim, who has lifelong anonymity as a victim of a sexual offence, stated in a victim impact statement read out in court that she had always been an anxious person and had been anxious about keeping the relationship a secret. She also expressed concern for Kingsbury’s situation and said that she had ended the relationship due to its impact on her education.
The case has highlighted the importance of safeguarding vulnerable students and the need for schools to have robust policies in place to prevent such incidents from occurring in the future.
