Husband kicks out teacher who slept with pupil, 16
A SHAMED teacher is living with her parents after being kicked out by her husband for a tawdry affair with a 16-year-old pupil.
Lauren Cox, 27, returned to the £800,000 family home in Surrey after her relentless pursuit of the promising schoolboy was exposed.
The geography teacher faces jail after pleading guilty earlier this week to a sexual affair with the boy that went on for eight months. It can now be revealed that her offending began just six months after she married in a lavish ceremony in July 2014.
Dozens of guests watched her wed her 30-year-old husband at picturesque St Peter’s Church, Limpsfield, in the Surrey commuter belt near London. After the ceremony the couple retired to Tandridge Golf Club where they posed for photographs in the extensive grounds.
Police later discovered she had already been in a ‘close relationship’ with the boy at her school in South-East London for some time. She now admits their friendship became sexual in January 2015 and the pair met for a series of illicit liaisons.
The teacher sent him several explicit pictures and videos and even continued to try to win his affections after he ended the relationship. Her extensive grooming of the pupil was exposed after his parents – both respected professionals in their field – became suspicious and he confessed to the affair.
The events have fuelled a rumour mill at the school, which cannot be named for legal reasons. Parents said Cox was well known for her ‘forward’ manner with boy pupils.
One said: ‘I remember her from a parents’ evening. The way she greeted one of the boys, it certainly raised an eyebrow.’
Another claimed a mystery whistleblower had plastered buildings with Post-it notes in a bid to raise the alarm about the improper relationship.
Investigators are concerned the boy, who continues to study at the same institution, could be identified by a whirlwind of comment on social media.
The teen has been lavishly praised by contemporaries online – with classmates taking sly digs at the morals of the teacher. A former pupil said photos of the pair romping in a car spread like wildfire as they were exchanged by mobile phone.
One dimly- lit photograph
‘Dismissive arrogance’
shows them kissing passionately and another shows them both smiling for a selfie, with the boy wearing his school tie.
Speaking at Croydon Crown Court, where Cox appeared this week, one official said extra measures are being taken to protect the boy’s identity, adding: ‘It is all over the internet.’
Identifying a victim of a sex crime is a serious offence which can lead to a substantial fine or even prison sentence.
Last month five people who identified the victim of paedophile footballer Adam Johnson online were issued with harassment notices.
Cox, who pleaded guilty to five counts of sexual activity with a boy aged 13 to 17, will return to court next month to learn her fate. Judge Nicholas Ainley has warned her she could go to jail for more than a year but he will take into account a report by a clinical psychologist.
The teacher was arrested on September 16 after the head was informed, who in turn told social services and police.
She has admitted sexual touching on two occasions in March last year as well as sexual intercourse between April and September. Prosecutors said there was a ‘build up’ to their relationship ahead of the victim’s 16th birthday despite the tenyear age difference.
Police are furious at the teacher’s lack of remorse and accused her of ‘dismissive arrogance’ about the seriousness of the offences. At the family home in Oxted yesterday, her father David Dunlop, 61, claimed there is ‘another side’ to the affair which has not been made public.
‘This is a very difficult time for the family,’ he said. ‘We have suffered as a family because not all the truth is out there. We won’t make any further statement.’
The boy’s mother said: ‘We can’t say anything at the moment because our son is still at the school and we don’t want to make any ripples.’
But she said she had completed a victim impact statement for the court detailing how the sex offence had affected the family.