A sweet-pushing teacher convinced a pupil they were in a “full blown relationship” and became “furious” when she found a boyfriend, a court heard.

Carly Dear is accused of grooming a girl with confectionery, groping her in changing rooms and repeatedly sexually assaulting her.

But the 46-year-old denies seven charges of historic sexual abuse while she was a serving PE teacher at Maidstone Grammar School for Girls, in Maidstone.

Dear is accused of telling the girl “I missed you so much” after holidays and often declaring “I love you.”

The alleged victim claims Dear “panicked” and sent about £10,000 when she said she was going to the police.

Recalling Dear’s crimes to officers, she said: “Looking back on it, oh god, it makes me go all cold.

"When I turned 18 it really ramped up big time.

"When I slept with (a boy I was dating) I remember her being furious about it..."

"I almost felt like I was in a full blown relationship with her.

"When I slept with (a boy I was dating) I remember her being furious about it.

"In the summer something clicked and I thought this isn't quite right.

"I can't bring myself to say her name, I found it hard, really really hard," Canterbury Crown Court heard.

Asked why she supported a prosecution years after the alleged events, the girl replied: "I was so scared that nobody was going to believe me, I thought they were just going to say I was a stupid kid and shouldn't let it happen."

Dear would gradually touch the girl in increasingly abusive ways, first groping her in changing rooms until eventually coaxing her to her Whitstable home, the court heard.

The girl described Dear carrying out progressively serious sexual acts at her home and in hotels, increasing in severity, which eventually led to her being assaulted "a lot for years."

After starting university Dear "kept hounding her", she travelled hundreds of miles to the girl's campus and locked her in a hotel room in a bid to perform sexual acts, the girl added.

But when she said she was going to the police, Dear "panicked" and would send her around £10,000.

"Do you think she thought she was in a relationship with you?" The officer asked.

"I think so, yes," she replied.

John Connor defending, told jurors Dear and the girl had a “brief sexual relationship” when she was 18 but denies sexual activity or inciting sexual activity.

Dear, who now lives in Thatcham, Berkshire, denies five counts of indecent assault, one count of abusing a position of trust and inciting sexual activity with a girl aged between 13 and 17.

The trial continues.

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