Jeremy Forrest: Schoolgirl's mum says daughter she knew has 'died' because of paedophile teacher

21 Jun 2013 20:53

Both mother and daughter refused to look at each other at an earlier hearing and sat yards apart in the public gallery

The mum of the besotted schoolgirl who ran away with paedophile teacher Jeremy Forrest has told how the illicit affair has totally destroyed her relationship with her daughter.
Her agony was revealed today as Forrest was jailed for five and a half years and banned from working with children after admitting abduction and five charges of sexual activity when the girl was 15.
The distraught mother, who had earlier testified against Forrest, told in an emotional impact statement how his shameful abuse had shattered the loving bond she and her daughter once shared.
Their relationship had completely broken down two months ago and the girl – who is still said to be infatuated with Forrest – had moved in with her stepfather.
Both mother and daughter – neither can be named for legal reasons – refused to look at each other at an earlier hearing and sat yards apart in the public gallery.
The schoolgirl, now 16, was not in court to see Forrest jailed today.

Sussex Police photo of former teacher Jeremy Forrest — Jailed: New police photo of former teacher Jeremy Forrest

In her statement, read out at the crown court in Lewes, East Sussex, by prosecutor Richard Barton, the mother said: “I feel completely useless most of the time.
“It feels like I have failed as a parent, and I can’t understand, how someone can do this to my child.”
She added: “I had no idea. I feel like part of my daughter’s childhood has been robbed from me.
"I missed things like her last days at school, dressing her up in her party dress and sending her to the school prom.
“It’s all been taken from us. I feel like the worst mother in the world, whatever anyone says, it does not matter.
"Somebody has got to my child and I never saw it coming or saw what was happening.
"I feel like the daughter I knew has died and I am grieving for her and it upsets me beyond words.
"Our relationship will never be the same again. She aims all her anger at me and somehow it’s all my fault.
"She feels she cannot trust me.”
Her statement came after married Forrest, 30, admitted sexual activity with a child – as police released photos found on the girl’s mobile phone.
One showed him naked from the waist up in a bathroom, with his heavily tattooed left arm clearly visible.

Images of Jeremy Forrest found on the "schoolgirl's"
mobile phone — Revealing: Half-naked photo of Forrest found on girl's phone

Crown Prosecution Service

Forrest’s guilty plea came after he unexpectedly dropped a legal battle to escape being charged with child sex offences.
Judge Michael Lawson QC said Forrest had been repeatedly warned by colleagues at Bishop Bell CoE School in Eastbourne about his relationship with the teenager.
The eight-day trial was told how the pair “fell in love” during a school trip to Los Angeles last February, when she was 14.
She developed a crush after pouring out her heart to him about her personal problems.
They started exchanging messages on Twitter, before kissing in a classroom.
Later they sent each other intimate photos on their mobile phones, the girl posing topless and him wearing just his boxer shorts with his hands thrust down the front.
The court heard they began having sex around her 15th birthday last June – at Forrest’s home in Ringmer, near Lewes, in his car and at budget hotels.
The girl told a friend they had sex up to eight times a night.

Fearing they were about to be discovered, Forrest booked them on a cross-Channel ferry from Dover to Calais, where they spent seven days on the run before he was arrested.
Imposing an order banning Forrest from ever working with children, Judge Lawson told him: “It was your duty to stop this girl’s infatuation rather than fuel it.”
Defence barrister Ronald Jaffa said Forrest’s behaviour had arisen from his “unhappy” marriage to wife Emily, 32, who also gave evidence against him.
Forrest, wearing a grey suit, white shirt and tie, showed no emotion but nodded to his family as he was taken to the cells.
A statement on behalf of his parents, Jim and Julie, was read by solicitor Henrietta Ronson after the hearing.
She said: “This is a sorry episode for all concerned and Jeremy is very sorry for his actions.”