June 2004 Teacher jailed for sex with pupil A Teesside teacher has been jailed for two years after admitting having sexual intercourse with a 15-year-old pupil. Teesside Crown Court heard that married Christopher Battenbo, 27, booked into a hotel for sex sessions with the girl. The science teacher pleaded guilty to unlawful sexual intercourse and two charges of indecent assault between January and July 2003. The teacher was sacked after rumours spread around his school in Redcar, and his wife is divorcing him. The affair started with virtual meetings in Internet chat rooms, and the girl sent him text messages suggesting they met out of school, prosecutor Jeremy Hill-Baker said. He said: “She was willing to meet him and to allow their relationship to develop into a sexual one. She told police that she loved him.” Pupil gossip reached a teacher and Battenbo was questioned by police. Tom Moran, defending, said that Battenbo and his wife had been adopting a little girl and he felt isolated by her motherly feelings. He said: “He is not a sexual predator. His wife is now divorcing him, and she alone will be adopting the little girl. He has brought shame upon himself and his family.” Judge Peter Fox QC told Battenbo: “Although this girl seems to have made the running and appears to be perfectly willing as regards all that occurred between you, you must have known from start to finish that you were in grave, serious breach of your duty to her.” Battenbo of Tarr Steps, Ingleby Barwick, Middlesbrough, was also banned from working with young people for 15 years, and ordered to register as a sex offender for 10 years.