Female tutor jailed for abusing underage boy in UK in second such case in two months
Holly Rouse-Sweeney, 37, who was jailed for sexually abusing an underage boy in the UK
A female math tutor in the UK who sexually abused an underage boy and kept a diary on it has been jailed for six years, police said.
Holly Rouse-Sweeney, a 37-year-old tutor from Hebden Bridge, was given six years in jail by the Nottingham Crown Court on Friday (Aug 9).
She was initially teaching the boy online and then arranged to meet him at her county home and went on to sexually abuse him despite knowing that he was underage.
The boy's mother became suspicious after seeing inappropriate massages on WhatsApp and alerted the police in May 2023.
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Upon searching her place, Nottinghamshire Police found diary entries in which Rouse-Sweeney detailed the abuse, even mentioning the boy's age.
She abused him several times at her former Nottinghamshire home, said Nottinghamshire Police in a release, "despite being aware he was under the age of consent."
She had pleaded guilty and attributed the abuse to a pre-existing mental health issue.
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Rouse-Sweeney 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, the police release said.
The tutor was added to the UK sex offenders’ register. After her release, she will be subject to a sexual harm prevention order which will tightly restrict her activities, the police said.
Rouse-Sweeney was issued a restraining order, preventing her from making any contact with the boy in future.
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'A breach of trust'
“This was an appalling breach of trust by a woman who had been trusted to spend time with a vulnerable child," the police release quoted child abuse specialist Detective Constable Keeley Bringhurst as saying.
“Instead of teaching him mathematics she cynically took advantage of him for her own sexual gratification. I know this abuse has had a significant impact on the victim and his family and I hope they will be comforted by this very strong sentence,” Bringhurst said.
Not the first case in UK of female teachers abusing boys
This is not the first case of female teachers abusing boys in the UK. In July this year, a teacher who abused two teenage schoolboys and became pregnant by one of them was jailed for six-and-a-half years by Manchester Crown Court.
Rebecca Joynes, 30, had exchanged social media messages and groomed the boys from the age of 15.
She was convicted of four counts of sexual activity with a child and two counts of sexual activity with another child.
(With inputs from agencies)
