Judge spares jail for teacher and claims he was groomed by 16-year-old student

Child protection campaigners have criticised the decision to not jail a religious education teacher who had a sexual affair with a teenage pupil.

18:42 15 January 2015

Religious education teacher Stuart Kerner, 44, (not pictured) was given a suspended 18-month jail term for having a sexual relationship with a 16-year-old student. Judge Joanna Greenberg QC said that she decided not to jail the married teacher after finding out that his victim had been “stalking” and effectively grooming him. 

Speaking at the Inner London Crown Court, Mrs Justice Greenberg described the teenager as “intelligent and manipulative.” She added: “Her friends described her, accurately in my view, as stalking you.”

“If grooming is the right word to use, it was she who groomed you [and] you gave in to temptation.”

The decision was expectedly criticised by child protection campaigners. They accused Judge Greenberg of transferring the blame to the victim when teachers have a legal and professional responsibility to reject any sexual advances from pupils.

Jon Brown, lead for tackling sexual abuse with the NSPCC, said: “Despite the alleged pressure that he was under from the girl in question, it’s still a fact that Stuart Kerner grossly abused his position of trust.

“This was an abusive relationship and young people involved in situations like this can be damaged in many ways. Teachers have a duty of care to their pupils and Kerner should have taken steps to distance himself from the girl.”

The Attorney General’s Office said on Twitter that it had “received complaints about Stuart Kerner sentence and will consider whether to refer to Court of Appeal under [the unduly lenient sentences] scheme”. It said it would make a decision by February 11th.