Wendover teacher found guilty of having sex with 15-year-old pupil
Kandice Barber was convicted in September for sending topless pictures over Snapchat
Last updated 28th Jan 2021
The Wendover teacher has been found guilty after a retrial.
Kandice Barber, from Wendover, Buckinghamshire, has been found guilty of causing or inciting a child to engage in sexual activity after a retrial at Amersham Law Courts.
She was tried again over allegations she engaged in sexual activity with a 15-year-old pupil while works at the school as a cover supervisor.
The courts heart that the 35-year-old teacher told the boy she was pregnant with his child and would "bring him down with her" if their relationship were discovered.
Prosecutor Richard Milne told the jury the affair began after Barber approached the pupil at a sports presentation in September 2018, where she took his phone and added herself on the boys Snapchat account.
In September 2020 Barber was convicted of sending the boy topless images of herself on Snapchat between September 2018 and October 2018.
But she was acquitted of causing or inciting a child to engage in sexual activity while in a position of trust.
Mr Milne told the jury:
"They engaged in sexual intercourse at the time he was 15 years of age and she was a teacher and he was a pupil at the school.
"It makes not a jot of difference that he was a he - the law applies equally to men and women.
"In law he could not give consent to have sexual intercourse.''
Barber denied the relationship, and claimed the victim had pursued her and she had not had sex with him.
However, messages exchanged between then showed the extent of the relationship including suggestions from the teacher to book a hotel room for the boys 16th birthday.
Jennie Laskar-Hall of the Crown Prosecution Service, said:
“Barber used her position as a teacher and as a trusted member of the community to abuse a teenage boy in her care.
“The messages were crucial to our case as they showed Barber had initiated contact with the teenager and pursued him, even threatening him when the school investigation began.
“Denying what she had done, Barber has forced the teenager and his family to go through a trial, and I want to commend him for providing the vital evidence we needed to secure today’s conviction.”
Barber was also found not guilty of two further counts of causing or inciting a child to engage in sexual activity.
The boy cannot be named for legal reasons.