Former teacher jailed for sexually assaulting pupil in school cupboard

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A former teacher has been jailed after he “groomed” and sexually assaulted a pupil in a classroom cupboard.

The court heard that Craig Hill “exploited” one of his pupils who had a “teenage crush” on him while he was a maths teacher at Hall Park Academy in Eastwood, Nottinghamshire.

The 46-year-old was sentenced to 32 months’ imprisonment at Nottingham Crown Court on Friday after the girl came forward a number of years later to report him to the police.

He pleaded guilty to two counts of sexual activity with a child and one count of causing or inciting a child to engage in sexual activity on what would have been the first day of his trial in August.

Prosecution barrister Dawn Pritchard said Hill, of Mornington Crescent in Nuthall, Nottinghamshire, touched the girl under the table and in a school cupboard at the back of a classroom on a “number of occasions”.

She continued that the victim had previously said that she was “infatuated” with him and sexually touched him back because she “wanted to impress him”.

Ms Pritchard added that on one occasion Hill unbuttoned his shirt in the cupboard and the girl was “shocked by how hairy his chest was”.

In a statement read to the court by Ms Pritchard, the victim wrote that the offences have impacted “every aspect” of her life.

“I feel like I have lost so much precious time and my childhood,” she said, “I can’t reminisce about school as every memory is tainted for me – I was a child and I was groomed by this man.

“I have to keep reminding myself I was a child. My only responsibility was to be a child and nothing I could have done would have changed the outcome.”

“I’m worried and wary about bumping into him and will always feel this way,” she added.

Judge Stuart Rafferty KC, sentencing, said: “You were in a position of responsibility to that girl. It probably became clear to you very early on that she had some feeling for you – some teenage crush – sometimes pupils form for those who are teaching them.

“All you had to do was kindly but firmly show her the door. The fact that you didn’t speaks volumes. It is perfectly clear that you did not discourage her in what she felt – to the contrary you exploited it.

“She, the infatuated child that she was with no prior sexual experience, could not begin to understand the ramifications of what was going on and the effect.

“There is a continuing impact on that child as she still is – still the child trapped within the adult body because of what happened with you.

“I believe now you are remorseful but whether that is remorse for others or yourself is less easy to determine.”

Hill stood in the dock wearing a navy suit and did not react as the sentence was read.