Teacher who had sex with pupil at £30,000-a-year college is jailed

Teacher, 32, who had sex with female pupil, 17, at £30,000-a-year Hurstpierpoint College in East Sussex is jailed for two years

• Aaron Gardner, 32, coerced the student, 17 at the time, into sexual activity
• At Hove Crown Court, Gardner was jailed for six counts of abusing his role
• Court heard he incited girl aged under 18 to engage in sexual activity
• Gardner has been jailed for two years and banned from working with children

A former teacher who had sex with a female pupil at a £30,000-a-year boarding school has been jailed for two years.

Aaron Gardner, 32, coerced the student, who was 17 at the time, into sexual activity and abused his position of trust, police said.

He committed a string of sex offences against the vulnerable girl while teaching at independent school Hurstpierpoint College in West Sussex.

The public school, where TV presenter Jamie Theakston and film critic Barry Norman once studied, has fees for full boarders of more than £10,000 a term.

Gardner, who now lives in Malvern, Worcestershire, committed the abuse more than seven years ago, according to Sussex Police.

Gardner offended teaching at independent school Hurstpierpoint College in West Sussex

At Hove Crown Court, Gardner was jailed for six counts of abusing his role of being in a position of trust to incite the girl aged under 18 to engage in sexual activity.

He admitted the charges at a previous hearing and was banned from working with children indefinitely.

A judge also ordered Gardner to be a registered sex offender for ten years and was given a Sexual Harm Prevention Order for the same amount of time.

Detective Constable Kirstie Prentice of the West Sussex Safeguarding Investigations Unit said there was no evidence any other pupils were victims of Gardner.

At Hove Crown Court, Gardner was jailed for six counts of abusing his role as a teacher

She said in a statement today: ‘The victim reported the offending to us two years ago when she became aware that Gardner was still teaching, although by then he was at another school outside Sussex.

‘We found that he had abused his position over a period of time when she was vulnerable, and took advantage of this for his own gratification until she left the college.

‘We had full co-operation from the college management throughout the investigation and there is no evidence that any other students were at risk from Gardner, who had left the college some years ago and no longer works in teaching.

‘We always encourage victims of sexual offending to contact us, whatever the circumstances, so that we can investigate and can also give access to sources of specialist advice and support.’

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