Kandice Barber

Kandice Barber, a married teacher from Wendover, Buckinghamshire, was sentenced to six years and two months in prison at Aylesbury Crown Court for grooming and engaging in sexual activity with a 15-year-old boy she was responsible for as a school cover supervisor.

The case, reported by the Evening Standard on 5 March 2021, detailed how Barber's actions began in September 2018 when she added the boy on Snapchat. Within a week, their exchanges turned sexual. Barber sent topless pictures of herself and a live video of her performing a sex act, acts described by Recorder Bal Dhaliwal as tantamount to grooming with significant planning. The judge emphasised that Barber exploited her position of authority, acting in gross breach of trust for her own sexual gratification.

• Barber instructed the boy to meet her in a private field, where they had sex.
• She later told him to delete all messages and block her to avoid detection.
• Barber claimed she was pregnant and unsure if the child was his or her husband's, using this as a means to manipulate and control him.
• She threatened to 'bring him down with her' if the relationship was exposed, further silencing the victim.

During the trial at Amersham Law Courts, which concluded with a retrial in January, prosecutor David Povall read a statement from the victim. The boy described suffering stress, anxiety, and poorer GCSE results due to the abuse, forcing him to leave his school and attend a sixth-form college without his friends. 'He says that the defendant, who was supposed to help students make the right decisions, instead helped him to make all the wrong decisions,' Povall stated.

Recorder Dhaliwal, in her sentencing remarks, noted: 'There is no doubt in my mind that you acted in gross breach of trust. You took advantage of a child in your care and groomed him for your own sexual gratification.' She added that Barber's gender made no difference to the severity of the offence. In addition to the main sentence for causing or inciting a child to engage in sexual activity, Barber received concurrent terms of 16 months for causing a child under 16 to watch sexual activity in breach of trust and 10 months for sexual communication.

Barber will be on the sex offenders' register for life, barred from working with children and vulnerable adults, and subject to a lifelong sexual harm prevention order. The NSPCC commented post-sentencing: 'As a teacher, Barber would have been well aware of the vulnerability of young people, and it was her duty to safeguard those in her care. But instead, she exploited her position of trust to groom and abuse this teenage boy for her own sexual gratification.' The case was handled under Thames Valley Police jurisdiction, given the location in Buckinghamshire.