A secondary school teacher has been jailed for 11 years after grooming and engaging in sexual activity with a teenage girl. David Brown, 35, from the Lytham St Annes area of Lancashire, began abusing the girl, a pupil at his school, in July 2024, Lancashire Constabulary said.
How the abuse unfolded
The force said Brown “brazenly groomed” the victim using his school email account before moving to social media messaging. He also communicated with her via video calls, including one occasion when he was dressed only in his underwear. After kissing the girl in December 2025, his “campaign of sexual abuse” continued, with Brown driving her to secluded areas for sexual activity on some occasions and causing her to engage in sexual activity at a property on others.
Investigation and evidence
Following a report by the victim’s parent in January this year, police searched Brown’s classroom and found four mobile phones in a desk drawer. Officers also discovered evidence of around 700 text messages of a sexual nature between Brown and the victim. Some exchanges showed Brown purposely attempting to get the girl alone to commit the offences.
Brown was arrested and answered “no comment” to all questions during interview. He was later charged and pleaded guilty at Preston Crown Court to one count of sexual communication with a child, three counts of sexual activity with a child, and one count of causing a child to engage in sexual activity.
Sentencing and impact
DS Adam Errington, of Lancashire Constabulary, said Brown is “a paedophile who tried to disguise himself as a trusted member of society”. He added: “He abused his position as a teacher, as a person with a responsibility for young people’s wellbeing all for his own sordid sexual interests.” The officer said the victim was “made to believe that Brown cared for her”, and that she was “not only a victim of his sexual crimes, but also of his mental abuse”.
In a victim impact statement, the girl’s mother said: “This incident has kept me awake night after night for months, with feelings of guilt, guilt that I was not able to do what I consider to be the most important job in the world, protecting my child.”
Brown, now of no fixed abode but formerly of an address in St Annes, was sentenced to 11 years in prison at Preston Crown Court last Friday (August 7). He was also ordered to sign the sex offenders register.
