A FEMALE teacher repeatedly had sex with a “vulnerable” 14-year-old pupil in her car while in an “unhealthy” relationship with her, a court heard. Ellie Pattison, 29, allege…

A FEMALE teacher repeatedly had sex with a “vulnerable” 14-year-old pupil in her car while in an “unhealthy” relationship with her, a court heard.

Ellie Pattison, 29, allegedly became friends with the schoolgirl while teaching in a secondary school.

The teacher made her believe she had fallen “in love”, it was said.

Hove Crown Court heard Pattison twice had sex with the pupil in her car and in two of her friend’s homes.

She also allegedly repeatedly touched the teen and kissed her after they began meeting outside her school.

Sarah Lindop, prosecuting, said: "She abused her position of trust but also made the complainant, who was a vulnerable child, believe it was a real relationship and that she loved her.”

  • halvo317@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
    97·
    8 months ago

    That’s wrong though. A child of 14 can’t consent. If you don’t consent, it’s rape.

    • Earthwormjim91@lemmy.worldEnglish
      91·
      8 months ago

      No, it doesn’t matter in the UK.

      The legal definition of rape there requires penetration with a penis. Period.

        • Earthwormjim91@lemmy.worldEnglish
          71·
          8 months ago

          No it doesn’t. It says that masculine gendered language applies to both. So a law that says “he” doesn’t only mean a man.

          However the law in the UK about rape specifically says penis.

          https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2003/42/section/1

          1Rape

          (1)A person (A) commits an offence if—

          (a)he intentionally penetrates the vagina, anus or mouth of another person (B) with his penis,

          (b)B does not consent to the penetration, and

          ©A does not reasonably believe that B consents.

          Now, the gendered “he/his” in there doesn’t mean that only an identified man can rape. A trans woman that has not undergone bottom surgery can still commit rape, even though she would be penetrating another person with her penis.

          A female without a penis cannot, because the law literally requires penetration with a penis.

            • Earthwormjim91@lemmy.worldEnglish
              2·
              8 months ago

              Is there another definition of penis?

              It does clarify that

              3)References to a part of the body include references to a part surgically constructed (in particular, through gender reassignment surgery).

              So a trans man with a surgically crafted penis would count as rape.

              Anything else would be assault by penetration which is

              (1)A person (A) commits an offence if—

              (a)he intentionally penetrates the vagina or anus of another person (B) with a part of his body or anything else,

              (b)the penetration is sexual,

              ©B does not consent to the penetration, and

              (d)A does not reasonably believe that B consents.

              A woman can commit assault by penetration if she were to digitally penetrate someone else, but not rape. Only penetration with a penis.

              There’s also sexual assault which is

              1)A person (A) commits an offence if—

              (a)he intentionally touches another person (B),

              (b)the touching is sexual,

              ©B does not consent to the touching, and

              (d)A does not reasonably believe that B consents.

              In all of these “he” no longer means male only though. So you can replace “he” with “they”.

              Rape still requires a penis, meaning only a male, trans woman prior to bottom surgery, and trans man after bottom surgery to create a penis can commit rape under UK law. Or some edge case that I’m sure exists in single digit numbers, where a woman that identifies as a female gets bottom surgery to get a penis.

              Any gender can commit sexual assault or assault by penetration though, which carry the same penalty as rape.

                • Earthwormjim91@lemmy.worldEnglish
                  4·
                  8 months ago

                  I mean that’s fine. I morally agree with you.

                  But the Sun is a UK paper/tabloid, reporting on a UK case. It would be libel if they called it rape when it legally isn’t there.

          • halvo317@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
            12·
            8 months ago

            I read the Wikipedia article, and it says it’s not enforced like that. I linked a government source to that effect. I just don’t care enough to argue about English rape laws.

            • Earthwormjim91@lemmy.worldEnglish
              4·
              8 months ago

              Because there are other laws that have the same penalties and cover the other situations. It’s just one that gets called “rape”.

              Assault by penetration covers what would be “rape by instrumentation” in the US. Forcibly inserting any object other than a penis into someone else.

              Then there’s Sexual Assault which would be this, and that one would be an excellent example of your source, because it is masculinely gendered as well, but applies to female offenders as well.

              All three carry the same penalties so it just becomes a legal semantic argument rather than a practical argument.