Yahoo Finance Teacher facing jail for having sex with boy, 15
A married teacher has been warned she faces a prison sentence after being convicted of having sex with a 15-year-old boy.
Kandice Barber, of Wendover, Buckinghamshire, was found guilty after a retrial of causing or inciting a child to engage in sexual activity and told she could be jailed for five years.
Amersham Law Courts heard that the 35-year-old had told the boy she would “bring him down with her” if the relationship was discovered, and that she was pregnant with his child.
Jurors took 10 hours and 39 minutes to reach their verdicts.
Barber was found not guilty of two further counts of causing or inciting a child to engage in sexual activity.
She had sent topless pictures of herself to the boy while she was working as a school cover supervisor.
He cannot be named for legal reasons.
Prosecutor Richard Milne told Recorder Bal Dhaliwal that the starting point for sentencing should be five years in jail as there was “an abuse of trust, a significant degree of planning, there is grooming behaviour used against the victim”, plus threats and sexual images were sent.
The “significant” disparity in age between Barber and the boy may also be a factor in helping the judge decide the length of the sentence, which could range from four to 10 years, he added.
Barber was convicted in September of sending the boy topless pictures of herself on Snapchat between September and October 2018, but was acquitted of causing or inciting a child to engage in sexual activity while in a position of trust.
She approached the pupil at a sports presentation in September 2018, and took his phone before adding herself to his Snapchat, which the teenager thought was “a bit weird”, Mr Milne had told the court.
The boy felt “worried and scared” and Barber told him “he should deny everything and should delete all the messages”, said Mr Milne.
Barber had a miscarriage but she warned the boy she would “bring him down with her” if he “snitched” by making a false allegation of rape, the court heard.
Mr Milne told the jury: “They engaged in sexual intercourse at the time he was 15 years of age and she was a teacher and he was a pupil at the school.
“It makes not a jot of difference that he was a he – the law applies equally to men and women.
“In law he could not give consent to have sexual intercourse.”
Sentencing will take place at Aylesbury Crown Court on February 15.
The judge also told Barber she will review her bail at a hearing at Aylesbury Crown Court on Friday morning.
The judge said: “I will consider whether you should be remanded pending your sentence.”
After the verdicts, the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) said that Barber had asked to meet the teenager outside of school and on one occasion took him to a field, where they had sex.
It said Barber claimed the victim had pursued her and she had not had sex with him.
On first being confronted by the headmaster, both Barber and the teenager denied the relationship but message exchanges and online images showed there was a connection.
Jennie Laskar-Hall, of the CPS, said: “Barber used her position as a teacher and as a trusted member of the community to abuse a teenage boy in her care.
“The messages were crucial to our case as they showed Barber had initiated contact with the teenager and pursued him, even threatening him when the school investigation began.
“Denying what she had done, Barber has forced the teenager and his family to go through a trial, and I want to commend him for providing the vital evidence we needed to secure today’s conviction.”
