Carol Greer, 76, of Thorne Road, Doncaster, was jailed for 13-and-a-half months and will spend a similar period on supervised licence on her release from prison.
The offences occurred between August 1971 and January 1978 and began when Carol Greer worked at school in Belfast, Northern Ireland, Belfast Crown Court heard.
The April report stated:
An ex-educator who manipulated a student and then engaged in sexual abuse with her during the 1970s has been sentenced to a term of 13-and-a-half months in prison.
Upon her release from prison, Carol Greer, a 76-year-old resident of Thorne Road, Doncaster, England, will be subject to a period of supervised licence of equal duration.
Carol Greer admitted his guilt for 15 instances of indecently assaulting a female.
The crimes occurred from August 1971 to January 1978 and commenced during Carol Greer’s employment at a school in Belfast.
The victim enrolled at Newtownbreda Secondary School at 12, where the defendant, her teacher, was referred to as Ms McRoberts.
In court, it was shown that Carol Greer invited the victim to a Christian youth club event, a gesture that she believed to be highly complimentary.
“By the end of the first year, Carol Greer started to leave the victim’s home in her car, and they began to see each other outside of school,” a prosecution lawyer told the court.
“At some point from the end of the victim’s first year at school, there began to be low-level kissing and sexual touching over her clothing, which continued until her third year at school.”
The court heard Carol Greer then started to take the victim back to her house in Comber, County Down, by which time the teacher was married.
“The victim has described that looking back, it felt like the defendant was pushing the boundaries, but there was not ‘hardcore sex’ at this stage, but sexual touching continued,” the prosecutor said.
“The situation developed so that the victim had her bedroom at the Carol Greers’ house. She recalled that the defendant’s husband was in the RUC Reserves and was usually on duty on a Friday night.”
The prosecutor said the victim would stay at Carol Greer’s home on Friday nights and felt like an “adopted child”.
The lawyer added that by the time the victim was in her third year of school, the sexual activity had increased.
The victim recalled during a dinner party at Carol Greer’s house, she went to bed and woke to find the defendant “kneeling next to her bed and kissing her” before sexually assaulting her.
In another incident, the defendant came to the victim’s home and was helping her with homework when she was 15 or 16.
“As they finished, they were leaving her study room, and the defendant turned the light out, pushed her against the door and kissed her. She described it as very forceful,” the prosecutor said.
The offending came to light in 2016 when the victim spoke to an old school friend who knew the defendant, and it was agreed to email Carol Greer.
“It took her over two years to write to the defendant directly on 24 February 2019,” the prosecutor said.
“Carol Greer responded apologising and asking for forgiveness.”
The victim made a statement to police in January 2020, and the following month, Carol Greer was interviewed by PSNI detectives.
Carol Greer stated she was the victim’s maths teacher, and a “sort of friendship grew”; they were “like sisters but then overstepped the mark really”.
However, Carol Greer denied grooming her victim and said it just “happened out of the blue”.
When asked if she knew it was wrong, Carol Greer stated she knew in God’s eyes it was terrible but didn’t know if it was legally wrong.
In a statement to the court, the victim said she became quite distressed at one stage as she did not know how to stop what was happening.
She did not think anyone would believe her and thought on one occasion about taking her own life.
Passing the 27-month sentence, Judge Kerr said he was satisfied there was “clear evidence of grooming” by the defendant, including socialising with her and giving the victim a room in her own home.
Stating that both the blame and harm were high, the judge said: “Due to the seriousness of the offending and the number of offences, only a custodial penalty is appropriate.”
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