Teacher charged with sexual grooming and touching remanded into police custody.

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A teacher has been charged with sexual grooming and touching and is remanded into police custody until September 10. It is alleged that the 30-year old man molested a 12-year old female student. 

His name is being withheld to protect the identity of the young victim.

It is alleged he committed the offence while on the school compound with the child.

The matter was reported to the police and following an investigation the teacher was arrested.

He was subsequently charged after a question and answer session in the presence of his attorney.

When the matter was mentioned in the St Catherine Parish Court on Tuesday, senior parish court judge, Desiree Alleyne, did not entertain a bail application.

But let's break down the charges a little bit, so we can all understand.

What is 'sexual grooming'?

According to WebMD sexual grooming is when a sexual predator "builds a relationship with a child or adult to abuse or exploit them. They build trust but use it to control, isolate, and abuse their victims emotionally, physically and sexually." [1]

What is 'sexual touching'?

The Streeton Lawyers' website defines as "touching another person with any part of the body, or with anything else, in circumstances where a reasonable person would consider the touching to be sexual..." [2] What they mean is that "sexual touching" can be done through some object, or material such as a hand or body part touching through for example clothing such as a T-shirt or trousers, on the victims' body, in a way that is deemed sexual.

To decide whether a touch should be perceived as sexual by a reasonable person. Streeton Lawyers noted there are three things courts must consider:

1. The area of the body touched;
2. Whether the person doing the touching does so for sexual gratification or arousal (although this is not essential);
3. Any other aspect of the touching or circumstances that might make it sexual.

Frightening that these things are happening in our schools!

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References

1. Sreenivas, Shishira. "What is Sexual Grooming?", WebMD, last updated Oct. 3, 2022, https://www.webmd.com/sex/what-is-sexual-grooming
2. Streeton Lawyers.  "Sexual Touching", Criminal Law: Sexual Offences, Sidney, Australia, https://www.streetoncriminallawyers.com.au/criminal-law/sex-offences/sexual-touching