July 2014
Teaching assistant jailed for kissing 13 year old Tamworth schoolgirl
A teaching assistant who kissed and cuddled a 13-year-old Tamworth girl has been jailed for 14 months.
Sean Meier befriended the girl after a chance meeting with her mother, whom he knew from the past, and offered to help with her studies.
But, at his former home in Tamworth, Meier kissed the girl on the lips and told her she was ‘the daughter he never had’.
Miss Michelle Heeley, prosecuting, said Meier instructed the girl not to tell anyone but the girl’s mother saw comments from him on her daughter’s Facebook page which were disturbing.
The girl then confided in her mother about Meier’s behaviour and after he was confronted about it, he was reported to police.
While checking Meier’s computer for the Facebook conversations, officers also discovered more than 40 indecent images of children, including five at the serious level four.
The 48-year-old, now of Dukes Road, Dordon, admitted sexual activity with a child, inciting sexual activity and six charges of possessing indecent images of children.
Speaking at Stafford Crown Court, Judge Mark Eades said: “You were a school teaching assistant and you knew that in that position you had a high responsibility for the children in your care.
“You knew that they look up to you, often as a father-like figure and a person in authority. They place great trust in you, as do their parents and you know if you abuse that trust, it would be a betrayal.
“You got in to conversation with [the girl] that caused or incited her to engage in sexual activity and you did indulge in sexual activity with her, all the time knowing it was a gross breach of trust.”
Along with the jail sentence, Meier was also banned from working with children indefinitely and made subject to a Sexual Offences Prevention Order.
Miss Heeley said Meier’s own son had, on one occasion, seen his father kneeling at the girl’s feet. One of his Facebook tweets to her said ‘if you want to touch me, that’s fine’.
When questioned, Meier accepted that his behaviour had been inappropriate and he told police that he had been giving safeguarding lessons to children.
Mr Tom Walkling, defending, said Meier was a man with sufficient prospects for rehabilitation.
“He is beginning to acknowledge that what he’s done is wrong. He is a low risk of re-offending.”
