Jailed, the private school teacher who had affair with girl for 14 months
A PRIVATE school teacher has been jailed for having a yearlong sexual relationship with a teenage pupil under the noses of senior staff.
Married biology teacher Kenneth Topham, 51, got close to the ‘naive’ girl in after-school study sessions at Worksop College.
He began grooming the girl, who can’t be identified for legal reasons, in March 2013, while she was a pupil at the £9,000-a-year school in Sherwood Forest, Nottinghamshire.
Last night the school was condemned for failing to act despite reports of inappropriate behaviour from several pupils and fellow teachers early on in the affair.
Topham was finally arrested after scores of ‘sex texts’ sent by him to the girl were found on her phone in May 2014 and headmaster Gavin Horgan called the police.
A former pupil accused the school of a cover-up, saying: ‘They knew what was going on, but refused to do anything about it. It is shocking that he was allowed to continue teaching and behaving like this when so many of us complained.’
Topham, a father of two who was also a foster carer to several chil- dren over the past decade, would meet the victim after school in his classroom. There they repeatedly engaged in sexual activity which fell short of full sex, Nottingham Crown Court heard yesterday.
The teacher – a housemaster who would stay overnight at the school – admitted five offences of wrongful sexual activity and four of incitement by a person in a position of trust. He was sentenced to 18 months in prison yesterday.
Suspicions were first raised in the summer of 2013, when the girl was spotted arm-in-arm with Topham and wearing his jumper. Afterwards, a school housemistress had an ‘informal discussion’ with Topham reminding him of boundaries and also spoke to the girl. They received another warning that November after being seen with their arms around each other at a school prom. At Christmas Topham told the victim he loved her and in January 2014 a teacher saw them bouncing on a trampoline together.
The school’s deputy head then spoke ‘in detail’ to Topham about the relationship and the victim’s parents were informed.
The teenager, who was described by her housemistress as ‘a very quiet girl and not worldly-wise’ is now at university. ‘I feel let down, hurt and stupid for allowing him to use me,’ she said in a brief statement to the court, adding that he had ‘ruined’ what should have been ‘fond memories of school’.
Judge Michael Pert QC told Topham he had ‘ exploited a naive teenager’.
A spokesman for the school said that because of the legal proceedings it could only share ‘very little information’ with parents, adding: ‘We have always taken our safeguarding responsibilities very seriously and ‘while the College acted swiftly when it became aware of the issue.. we have undertaken a review... of every aspect of our practice’.