TEACHER WHO ASSAULTED TEEN GIRL AVOIDS JAIL IN GATESHEAD

A teacher who publicly admitted to indecently assaulting a teenage girl has avoided jail time. David Culling, aged 37 at the time of the incident, taught religious education at Whickham Comprehensive in Gateshead. He engaged in an illicit relationship with a girl who was 15 years old, which included kissing and hugging in his car and a bedroom. The case was brought to light after the victim confided in friends, leading to police involvement. Culling, also a churchgoer and leader of a Christian group, accepted a charge of indecent assault, relying on evidence that he kissed and hugged the girl. During sentencing at Newcastle Crown Court, Mr. Justice Grigson noted that the indecency was at the lower end of the scale and that there was no evidence the victim had been adversely affected. Culling received a community rehabilitation order for three years and was ordered to attend a sex offender group work program and register as a sex offender for five years. His defense highlighted that the victim had a crush on him and that his Pentecostal beliefs made it difficult to turn her away, though he recognized the relationship was inappropriate and sought counseling.