A teacher allegedly groped and forcibly kissed a teenage pupil while working as a music teacher at the school, a court has been told.
Emma Ginger is accused of touching the 15-year-old boy twice while making an “inappropriate” appearance at a sixth form party in July 2021.
Prosecutors claim the 36-year-old woman became “hugging and touchy” after getting drunk, before physically touching the teenager and telling him she would “lose her job” for what she was doing.
Aylesbury Crown Court heard on Monday that the teacher, who denies two charges of sexual activity with a child under 16, had also spoken to students about her sex life.
This included her allegedly claiming she had slept with more than 100 people at university and on another occasion telling a student that she had performed a sexual act on her husband the night before.
Emma Ginger (pictured) is accused of touching a 15-year-old boy twice at a sixth form party in July 2021.
Prosecutor Julian Lynch told jurors Monday that Ginger had taught the boy “for a while” and had a reputation as a “fun teacher.”
He said: ‘Over time, Mrs. Ginger would blur the appropriate boundaries. She would go to parties with students outside of school hours and she would say the guy looked attractive or smelled good.’
The jury was told that Ginger attended a party with sixth graders on the night of July 17, 2021. Lynch described how the defendant’s behavior had deteriorated during the party, as she became increasingly drunk.
“Mrs. Ginger became huggable and touchy-feely, which was an inappropriate way for a teacher to behave,” the prosecutor said.
“She began to interrogate the boy and asked him if he had feelings for her and if he thought she was pretty.
‘The Crown says she was attracted to this 15-year-old student.
“Mrs. Ginger continued her physical attempts to flirt with the boy and put her arm around his waist repeatedly.”
Lynch described how the defendant had sat next to the boy at the party and began touching him.
‘She asked again if the boy was attracted to her. She told the boy that she would lose her job because of what he was doing.
He claimed that the teacher then rubbed her hands over the boy’s body over his clothes, including in his private region.
Lynch said: ‘The boy describes going into shock. Mrs. Ginger whispered in his ear that she wanted to know what was going on.
The victim gave a police interview after making the complaint about Ginger’s conduct, the jury heard.
Music teacher allegedly groped teen and forcibly kissed him after getting drunk
The jury was shown a video of the interview, in which the 15-year-old told officers: “Mrs. Ginger kept saying she was going to lose her job because of what she was doing.”
He said she had been “moving her hands, squeezing” his body over his clothing.
He told officers: ‘I went into shock. I couldn’t move and didn’t know what to do. “I was scared and I felt bad.”
The court heard the defendant pushed the boy’s face towards hers and kissed him on the lips, trying to get his tongue into his mouth.
The boy described the aftermath of the incident and said that in the days afterward the defendant had said she was “blackout drunk” and didn’t know what she was doing.
“She was trying to make me feel guilty,” the alleged victim said.
‘She had had a lot of personal problems. She said it was my fault that she wasn’t there to make sure she was okay.
The court heard that on another occasion Ginger had told the boy that she had performed a sexual act on her husband a day earlier and had slept with more than 100 people at university.
Under cross-examination by defense attorney James McCrindell, the boy admitted to drinking alcohol at the party, where there was beer, cider and vodka.
However, he said he did not drink to the point of forgetting anything about crimes.
Speaking via video link, the boy said: “I don’t really drink to the point where I don’t remember anything.” I know my own limit.
‘At the party, I did drink alcohol. But in such a serious situation I came back to the reality of what she was doing.
“I’m not going to drink to the point of vomiting, passing out, or not remembering anything.”
The boy told Mr McCrindell he had drunk about half a bottle of wine immediately after the alleged incident.
The boy told the court he was “a little drunk” but remembered everything that happened that night.
Ginger denies two charges of sexual activity with a child under 16 at Aylesbury Crown Court (pictured)
McCrindell asked him if the evening had been a “blur.”
The boy said, “Not really, I remember most of the night, what happened.”
“I remembered the actual physical incidents.”
McCrindell said: “As far as his drinking is concerned, what he has done is minimize the extent to which he was drunk.” What do you say to that?
The teen said, “No, I remember the specific drunken state I was in because I remember what happened.”
The court heard from the boy that a friend who was at the party would have witnessed the offences.
Mr McCrindell told him it had been a fun party and nothing had happened.
The boy replied: ‘It wasn’t exactly very fun. I never want to relive that party again.
The jury heard that on another occasion the music teacher told the victim about her abortion and told her he had not been there to support her in the days afterward.
The jury also heard that the defendant told the boy that he lost his virginity at the age of 14.
McCrindell asked the boy if the “positive” comments he received from Ginger would have been received by other students.
The boy said that was most likely, but added: “For a teacher to praise someone’s smell isn’t exactly up to par.”
The trial will continue in the same court on Tuesday.