Online maths tutor jailed for abusing pupil
Holly Rouse-Sweeney abused the boy at her home
- Published
A private maths tutor has been jailed for sexually abusing a boy she had been teaching online.
Nottinghamshire Police said Holly Rouse-Sweeney, 37, arranged to meet the teenager at her former home in the county and had sexual contact with him on several occasions despite being aware he was underage.
But in May 2023 the boy’s mother found inappropriate WhatsApp messages on his phone and alerted the force.
She received a six-year sentence at Nottingham Crown Court on Friday after admitting multiple offences.
Police said after Rouse-Sweeney was arrested, officers found several incriminating diary entries on her laptop in which she detailed the abuse and referenced the boy’s age.
She claimed her actions had been influenced by a long-standing mental health condition.
"Appalling breach"
Rouse-Sweeney, of Campden Road, Hebden Bridge, West Yorkshire, pleaded guilty to two counts of engaging in non-penetrative sexual activity with a boy, and four counts of causing a boy to engage in sexual activity.
She was also added to the sex offenders register, made the subject of a sexual harm prevention order on her release, and handed a restraining order forbidding her from any future contact with her victim.
Police child abuse specialist Det Con Keeley Bringhurst said the case was an “appalling breach of trust” by someone spending time with “a vulnerable child”.
She said: “Instead of teaching him mathematics she cynically took advantage of him for her own sexual gratification.”
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