A female teacher manipulated a 15-year-old boy into having sex with her and then sent him a note saying she enjoyed "every piece" of him. Emily Drury, 26, of Tuplin Road, Mablethorpe, Lincolnshire, targeted the teenager after watching him drink alcohol with a friend, Lincoln Crown Court heard.
Drury pleaded guilty on Friday (August 21) to one charge of engaging in non-penetrative sexual activity and four charges of engaging in penetrative sexual activity. She was sentenced to four years and six months in prison and must serve at least half her sentence before she can be considered for release.
Abuse of trust and manipulation
The court heard how Drury preyed on the boy after offering to tutor him to help him pass his GCSEs when his mock exam results came back lower than expected.
Det Cons Julie Jode said Drury abused her position of trust and exploited the access she had to a vulnerable young person for her own purposes.
She added: "As an adult in a position of authority, she was expected to provide guidance, support, and protection.
"Instead, she used that position to target and manipulate someone who should have been able to trust her implicitly."
Victim's impact statement
In a statement read out in court, the boy said Drury had shown him kindness, saying positive things to him, buying him clothes and telling him things to make him feel better about himself.
He added: "I trusted her and confided in her about some very personal things."
Describing how he felt after the allegations were made, he said: "I felt judged. I felt people blamed me. I felt unable to simply be a child.
"I worried people would not take me seriously because I am a boy. I believed there was a stigma attached to being a male victim of sexual abuse and that fear made it even harder to cope."
The court heard how the boy gave police permission to check his phone and found a message from Drury which read: "I enjoy every piece of you. I don’t know how to stop, or what this is. Here’s £20 just in case…Your Em xoxo".
Sentencing and additional orders
Lincolnshire Police said Drury prolonged the "extremely difficult" experience by delaying her guilty plea to the very last minute, leaving the boy in uncertainty for months.
In his impact statement, the boy explained that Drury and her husband "didn't really talk" and "weren't having sex", adding she was "obsessed" with him, the Daily Mail reports.
Defence barrister Jeremy Janes said Drury's behaviour had ended what she had hoped would be a lifelong career and she embarked on an "uncharacteristic, fantastical and unreal relationship" with the boy.
Judge James House KC, sentencing, said: "She was in a position of trust. She was the adult, he was the child. This was not simply a single indiscretion – that would have been bad enough."
Det Cons Jode said: "Throughout the investigation, the victim showed exceptional courage, dignity, and resilience."
She added: "His bravery has been instrumental in securing this outcome and ensuring the offender has been held accountable for her despicable actions."
On top of the jail sentence, Drury was also given a sexual harm prevention order and a five-year-long restraining order. She will also be placed on the sex offenders’ register for life.
