Teacher cleared of sex with teenage pupil
A JURY has cleared a teacher accused of having sex with her teenage pupil.
Deborah Lowe, 54, wiped away tears as she was told she could leave the dock and was free to go by the judge, following a seven-day trial at Minshull Street Crown Court, Manchester.
The jury found Lowe not guilty of five counts of sexual activity with a child by a person in a position of trust.
She had stood, hands clasped in front of her, swaying slightly and breathing deeply as the jury foreman returned the verdicts.
Lowe had admitted having sex with the teenager, after being “flattered” by the attention of the boy and was having a “mid-life crisis” when they began a relationship.
The divorcee said at the time she had become interested in meditation and yoga, visited Bali, sold her flat in suburban Cheshire and given up her job as head of pastoral care at a high school to go travelling in India to “explore her faith”.
But she maintained the relationship with the boy, 35 years her junior, only became sexual after he had left school and was aged 17.
The prosecution had alleged that sex began when the boy was 16 years old – and that although he was old enough to legally consent, Lowe broke the law by having sex with him when she was a person in a position of trust, as his teacher.