A sick teacher who groomed a teenage girl after sending a video of himself carrying out a sex act and asking her if he could whip her with his tie has been locked up.
David Amos was tasked with contacting the County Durham student during the early days of the Covid pandemic but instead used his time to engage in sexual conversations with the girl.
Teesside Crown Court heard how the sexualised talk between the pair started on Snapchat before moving onto other social media platforms.
Richard Bennett, prosecuting, said the 30-year-old coerced the teenager to send a photograph of her naked bottom after he had sent her a number of images of his penis.
He said Amos sent more than 700 messages to the teenager including ones where he offered to whip her with his tie and tried to persuade her to go to a wooded area so that he could photograph her.
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Mr Bennett added: “The conversation turned sexual with the defendant asking her if she had done anything sexual with anyone else. It then progressed to the male defendant sending selfies with his penis out standing in front of the mirror.”
The court heard how the online conversation continued in a sexual manner over a number of weeks after it moved to Skype.
He said: “She sent him a picture of her bare bottom and he sent her a picture of him masturbating.”
Mr Bennett said there was a break in communication before Amos renewed contact in the August and the defendant asked her if she would do sexual things with him but she replied - ‘it would be weird because he was a teacher’.
He added: “There was grooming behaviour, to a degree, because this was a long conversation that has taken place over a number of weeks.”
Amos, of Lumley Road, Durham, pleaded guilty to causing a child to watch sexual activity and a charge of causing a child to engage in sexual activity.
Amrit Jandoo, in mitigation, said his client had struggled during lockdown after his relationship collapsed but understood his behaviour would result in the end of his promising teaching career.
He added: “There are extensive messages during that period of time and not all of those messages were of that nature. There were messages where he tried to help the girl and he was carrying out his duties properly.”
Judge Chris Smith sentenced the former teacher to a total of 30 months in custody.
“Over the course of several months you engaged in sexualised conversation with her, that sexualised contact started quite quickly after you contacted her on Snapchat.
“In the course of that conversation, you sent her a video of you masturbating,” he said.
“I have read some of the messages, there is a degree of cajoling or pressurising her to engage in sexual activity within the context of what is a gross breach of trust.”
Amos was also ordered to sign on the sex offenders’ register for life and was made subject to a ten-year sexual harm prevention order.
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