Music teacher, 46, who had sex with pupil in his car is spared jail
Married father-of-two music teacher, 46, who had sex with a sixth form pupil in his car and gave her the morning after pill is spared jail
- Music teacher Jeremy Matthews, 46, had an affair with a pupil in the 2000s
- The dad-of-two was ten years older than the besotted sixth former at the time
- He drove her to get morning-after pill and left her heartbroken by dumping her
- The ‘intelligent’ girl became sad, anxious and depressed; and later an alcoholic
- Matthews received a 12-month suspended jail term and 200 hours’ unpaid work
A music teacher who had sex with a besotted sixth former in the back of his car has been spared jail.
Father-of-two Jeremy Matthews, now 46, also gave the student the morning after pill during a pregnancy scare.
Matthews, of Whitwell Grange near Durham, was ten years older than the underage teenager when the two-year fling began in the early 2000s.
He had offered the teen a lift home from the North Yorkshire tourist attraction of Fountain’s Abbey and was living with a woman who is now his wife, Teesside Crown Court heard.
Jeremy Matthews appeared at Teesside Crown Court (pictured) where he admitted engaging in sexual activity with a girl under 16 while in a position of trust and was given a 12-month prison term suspended for two years
Prosecutor Ian West said it was the girl’s first proper relationship but more of an affair for Matthews.
He added: ‘She had no previous sexual experience. However, with the defendant, she engaged in sex sometimes in his car and sometimes back in his flat.
‘The victim says she regarded it as a loving relationship. Indeed the defendant did tell her he was in love with her’.
Matthews told the student that he loved her, and took her to get the morning-after pill when she had a pregnancy scare.
She became infatuated with Matthews and was left heartbroken when he ended their relationship.
In a statement, she said: ‘Where has the old me gone? The old me had confidence and dreams; I found problems to be challenges’.
Her mum said: ‘My daughter was an intelligent, kind, caring, popular girl with a wonderful future ahead of her.
‘She now lives in constant sadness, depression, ill health and anxiety and is a slave to her addiction.
‘She suffers from alcoholism- which she used as a crutch to deal with her anguish’.
Matthews originally claimed the teen had left school but later admitted she was still a student.
He admitted engaging in sexual activity with a girl under 16, whilst in a position of trust, at a hearing in November 2021.
Matthews was given a 12-month prison term, suspended for two years.
Judge Edward Legard told him: ‘There are few relationships more precious than the teacher-pupil one. To betray that as you have done is unconscionable.
‘It is abundantly clear that your offending has had a profoundly debilitating affect on her. She describes herself as a shadow of her former self.’
Matthews was also sentenced to 200 hours of unpaid work with a 30-day rehabilitation requirement, and an indefinite restraining order, banning him contacting the victim.
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