Deputy head of a Cheshire special needs school on trial charged with seven counts of sexual activity with a child in a position of trust

Mar 11 2010 by Paul Mannion, Chester Chronicle

A DEPUTY headteacher at a Cheshire special needs school fell in love with a vulnerable 16-year-old pupil and allegedly had sex with him 10 times, Chester Crown Court heard.

Married teacher Theresa McKenzie, 39, of Chester Road, Kelsall, started a two-week trial yesterday having denied seven counts of sexual activity with a child in a position of trust.

It is alleged the pair’s relationship began after McKenzie became the victim’s key worker in the school and what started as flirting, kissing and touching soon progressed to sexual acts and full intercourse at regular Wednesday night meetings at an address in Kingsley.

Simon Mills, prosecuting, said: “The victim says that when he was 16 and 17 years old, the defendant had a sexual relationship with him.

“It wasn’t simply a sexual relationship, if you take her own words she was in love with him.”

Highly-respected teacher McKenzie sent emails, notes and letters to the victim – who cannot be named for legal reasons – one said ‘I love you forever’, followed by a drawn love heart and more than 30 kisses.

About 600 pages of phone calls and text messages were sent by McKenzie to the victim over a seven month period calling him ‘sweetheart’ and ‘babe’.

In another she wrote: “To my gorgeous pirate, dreaming of hiring a pirate ship with you and sailing across the seven seas.... what do you think? Would you like to come?… it would be bliss even for one day to play.... my seafaring sweet heart, love you for ever and ever and ever xxx’.

The court heard how they began to spend an ‘inappropriate’ amount of time together leading to staff expressing concerns about the closeness of their relationship.

After the victim, who suffers from attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and other emotional and behavioural conditions, was found smoking cannabis in class a search of his home revealed several of the letters and a gift bag containing condoms and lubricant.

McKenzie, who visited the boy at an address in London, also had sex with him in a London hotel and four times in disabled toilets at the British Library, it is alleged.

Reading a summary of McKenzie’s police interview, Mr Mills added: “She clearly denied any sexual contact with the victim and says her actions ‘were part and parcel of looking after a very troubled young man’.

The trial continues.