February 2015 Bromfords School, Wickford female teacher jailed for phone sex with pupil AN ENGLISH teacher at Bromfords School in Wickford has been locked up for a year for having phone sex with a female pupil. Helen Carter, 40, of Homerton High Street, east London, admitted four counts of sexual activity with a child, three counts of causing or inciting sexual activity with a child by position of trust and one count of making an indecent image of a child. The charges relate to a girl who was aged between 13 and 17 and cannot be named for legal reasons. The court heard how Carter incited the girl to send topless photos, encouraged her to perform a sex act on social media and incited her to send sexually explicit messages. Carter was jailed for 12 months, six of which will be spent on licence, and she will be put on the Sex Offenders Register for a decade. Prosecutor Nneka Akudola told Basildon Crown Court this morning, how Carter developed a close friendship with the girl. She said: “Around the time of February 2014 she [the victim] became closer to her teacher. “She would spend increasingly more time with her during break times and after school. “She would regularly go to school earlier and come home later and remain in the classroom.” Carter came into teaching late in life after getting a degree in English and taking on admin jobs, the court heard. Miss Akudola explained how this was Carter’s first full-time teaching job, which she started in September 2012. The court heard how the victim’s sister became concerned at the amount of time she spent with her teacher and then found sexually explicit messages sent by Carter on her iPad in April 2014. Acting head teacher Martin Coulson was notified about the relationship and informed the police, who arrested Carter at the school on May 23, 2014, the hearing heard. She was immediately suspended from her post at the Grange Avenue school. Miss Akudola added that the girl had sent messages to Carter that wished her a happy birthday, adding that “she would make a cake for her one day.” She said: “Another message [sent to Carter] said ‘when we are living together we can wake up in each other’s arms and smear each other with cake.’” Miss Akudola said the pair’s relationship developed when the girl added Carter on social media picture sharing site Pinterest. She said: “She [the victim] told Carter ‘I like you’ and Carter responded in similar terms. “They began messaging through Telegram messenger and agreed to use a self-destruct button to delete messages. “She [the victim] said that using the facility had been Carter’s idea. “It was at that stage when they were communicating that the girl said they would have phone sex. “They would act out scenes of what they would do together if they lived together. “She thought Carter was masturbating during these times although in interview she accepted she didn’t know if she was or not.” Mike Warner, defending Carter, told the court the defendant “has not tried to challenge any of the facts.” He said: “She accepts that she was masturbating during some of these conversations on Telegram. “While there was incitement it appears that there wasn’t a determined effort that these conversations would end in mutual masturbation.” Sentencing, judge Jonathan Black said: “In my view, your behaviour towards this child in your care constitutes a gross abuse of trust. “She developed a trusting relationship with you based on what she perceived as support for difficulties she discussed with you. “You were fully aware, through your training and experience as a teacher, of her vulnerability and yet you chose to exploit it in this case.”