An unmarried music teacher was spared prison after he had been seen having sex in his car with a sixth-former.
Jeremy Matthews, a father-of-2, was 46 when he gave his student the morning pill after a miscarriage.
Matthews was 10 years younger than Matthews at Whitwell Grange, Durham when their two-year affair began in 2000.
The teen had been offered a ride home by him from Fountain’s Abbey, a North Yorkshire tourist attraction. He was also living with his now-wife Teesside Crown Court.
Jeremy Matthews, pictured at Teesside crown court. He confessed to sexual activity with a minor while in a position for trust. Matthews received a suspended 12-month sentence and a 2-year term.
Ian West, the prosecutor for Matthews said that it was her first real relationship.
He said, “She has never had any sexual experiences before.” The defendant and she had sex with each other in their car sometimes, but sometimes they went back to his house.
The victim stated that she thought it was a love relationship. The defendant actually told her that he loved her.
Matthews assured the student that Matthews loved her and took her to take the morning-after pill after she was having a bad pregnancy.
Matthews was her love and she fell in love with him.
She stated that she had lost the confidence and dreams of her old self in a statement. “The old me had dreams and confidence; problems were challenges.”
Her mom said, “My daughter was an intelligent and caring girl, with a great future.”
She is now a slave of her addiction and lives with sadness, depression, anxiety, ill-health, and constant sadness.
“She is suffering from alcoholism, which she used to cope with her anxiety.”
Matthews claimed at first that Matthews was a teen who had quit school. However, she later confessed that she was still studying.
In November 2021, he confessed to having sex with a 16-year-old girl while he was in a position that trusted him.
Matthews received a suspended sentence of 12 months in prison.
Judge Edward Legard said to him that there are very few relationships as precious as the teacher-pupil relationship. Unconscionable to do so.
“It is evident that her offending has had an extremely debilitating effect on me,” she said. She describes her self as an image of herself from the past.
Matthews was sentenced to 200 hours unpaid work, a 30-day rehabilitation obligation, and an indefinite restraint order that prohibits him from contacting victims.