A female teacher repeatedly had sex with a ‘vulnerable’ 14-year-old pupil in her car while in an ‘unhealthy’ relationship with her, a court heard.
Ellie Pattison, 29, allegedly became friends with the schoolgirl while teaching in a secondary school.
How it happened
The teacher made her believe she had fallen ‘in love’, it was said.
Hove Crown Court heard Pattison twice had sex with the pupil in her car and in two of her friend’s homes.
She also allegedly repeatedly touched the teen and kissed her after they began meeting outside her school.
Sarah Lindop, prosecuting, said: ‘She abused her position of trust but also made the complainant, who was a vulnerable child, believe it was a real relationship and that she loved her.’
Pattison, who worked as a teaching assistant in East Sussex, was 23 at the time of the alleged offences and in a relationship.
Jurors heard she had the added responsibility of looking after children who were in care while at the secondary school.
The pair became close and Pattison formed an ‘inappropriate relationship’ with her, it was said.
Cameras in bedroom
The court was told they would send each other intimate messages and even set up cameras in their bedrooms so they could see each other at night.
In a police interview played to jurors, the girl said: ‘She told me she had fallen for me and she was in love with me.’
How the girl got trapped
She said she avoided her for a few days but when they agreed to meet to clear the air, she got drunk before Pattison picked her up in her silver Peugeot and tried to kiss her.
The teen added: ‘We were sitting there and I got even more f***ed and she kissed me again and the second time I kissed her back and from that point we started trying to get together.’
Breaking down in tears, she continued: ‘I didn’t really have any feeling for her like that before.’
She added: ‘It’s f****d me up so bad that I can’t even have a relationship with anyone anymore.
‘Every time I see a silver Peugeot I’m looking to see if it is her.’
How police got wind of the abuse
The alleged abuse came to light when a friend of the girl saw the pair kissing in the car and raised the alarm.
When bosses at the school discovered Pattison had been meeting the vulnerable girl, she was suspended.
Her partner then reported the ‘inappropriate relationship’ to police when she also found out.
Pattison was arrested by officers and admitted to being close to the teenager but denied anything sexual had ever taken place.
She told officers: ‘No nothing like this ever happened.’
Pattison denies three counts of penetrative sexual activity with a girl aged between the age of 13 and 15.
The trial continues.
