A public school mistress has been jailed for 15 months for having a lesbian affair with a 15-year-old pupil.
Music teacher Helen Goddard, 26, admitted six counts of sexual activity with the girl between February and July this year.
Goddard - nicknamed "the jazz lady" - befriended the youngster as they met for coffee after lessons.
Their relationship eventually became sexual - a development which
the teenager's parents condemned as a "complete betrayal" of trust.
The pupil claimed the sexual contact was consensual and she herself
had instigated it, according to the judge at London's Southwark Crown
Court.
The affair lasted five months and included an overnight stay at the teacher's home and a romantic weekend in Paris.
The relationship remained a secret until the school, which cannot be named for legal reasons, received an anonymous tip-off.
Care workers were contacted and police raided the teacher's housing estate maisonette in Greenwich, south-east London.
They arrested Goddard, who was a former child music prodigy, and seized various sex toys.
In court, the teacher, wearing a white blouse and a black waistcoat
and trousers, bowed her head and repeatedly wiped tears from her eyes.
Judge Anthony Pitts said: "This is a difficult case. The evidence
showed you were having a full-on sexual relationship with the girl for
many months.
"It is, of course, against the law to engage in sexual activity with
a person under 16, even with her consent. These are serious offences in
their own right.
"But the particularly aggravating feature evident here of course is
that you were her music teacher throughout this period and from well
before the sexual relationship started."
The judge added she would also be banned from working with children
for life and would have to register as a sex offender for 10 years.
Subject: Teacher Jailed For Lesbian Affair With Pupil 
Mon Sep 21, 2009 9:15 am
