The Marche Criminal Court handed down a sentence on Friday against a teacher prosecuted for exchanging sexual messages with a 16-year-old student in the Tenneville region. The defendant was granted a probationary suspension of the sentence.

For several months, the 53-year-old teacher maintained an erotic correspondence with one of her former students. A 16-year-old boy whose English she had taught while teaching at a private boys' school near Tenneville. Their exchanges began during the summer—she had left the school in June—before continuing after the start of the 2022 school year, notably via a smartphone she had given him.

A book on the Kama Sutra as a gift

Complaints filed by the young man's parents and the school administration led to a search of her home in January 2023. The investigation revealed that she had given the teenager a book on the Kama Sutra, that they had exchanged nude photos, and that she had sent him sexual videos. There were also messages in which she contemplated sexual relations with her former student.

Prosecuted before the Marche Criminal Court in a closed-door trial for incitement to debauchery and for seeking to have sexual relations with a minor while in a position of authority, the teacher was granted a probationary suspension of the sentence. The court declared the incitement to debauchery not established, unlike the other charges, considering that “she was in a recognized position of trust, authority or influence”, even though she no longer worked within the school.

While highlighting the seriousness of the facts, the judge also took into account the lack of previous offenses and the remorse expressed at the hearing.