A TEACHER accused of a sexual relationship with a boy pupil said his actions have had a “traumatic impact” on his family.
Peter Nathan Smith, 38, of Pilling Lane, Scissett, is accused of abusing his position of trust between December 2006 and June 2007 after grooming a teenage pupil and having sex with him.
Smith, a married man, has denied the allegations but admitted having sex with the student once he had left the school in 2010.
Yesterday at Leeds Crown Court, when asked whether he had engaged in a sexual relationship with the pupil, Smith said: “Yes I have.
“Those sexual acts took place in 2010.”
Smith, who told the court he “was and still is a happily married man” left his job at the West Yorkshire public school where the alleged offences took place, and went to work at at a centre in the south of England in 2007 after being promoted to assistant head.
As his wife had been promoted in Leeds and their house was yet to sell, the couple decided that she should remain in West Yorkshire while he went to work in the south for a year.
It is during this time he claimed he first became attracted to men.
He said: “While being absent from my family I became curious in relation to being attracted to men and that developed over time to the events that did take place.
“My wife became aware of the relationship the day after I had been arrested when I told her everything.”
The father-of-two was not allowed to enter his home after the arrest and was prevented from seeing his children.
He wept from the witness stand at Leeds Crown Court and said: “I was not allowed to see my own children and was only able to speak to them through the telephone.
“I was only allowed to have contact with them when my wife was present and I was not allowed to be in my own home for about three months from October 2010.
“It has had an absolutely traumatic impact but I am still there.
“I find it almost impossible to forgive myself, I regret my actions sincerely.”
Smith originally trained as a mechanic for BT before getting a degree and undertaking a year of teacher training.
He said: “I was very ambitious for promotion. I set out to be the best that I could be so I put every bit of effort I could into the job.
“I had a personal aim to be a headmaster by the age of 40 and until the self-destruction of one’s career, I was well on the way to achieving it.”
When asked by his defence barrister Peter Pimm about the future of teaching, he said: “I don’t have a future in teaching anymore.”
In regard to the friendship Smith shared with the student, he said it was common for some members of staff to remain in contact with pupils once they had left, especially through the “old boys” network.
Yesterday morning, the court also heard from a “close friend” of the student.
He recalled meeting Smith when staying at the complainant’s house and said he thought that the relationship between the pair was “strange”.
Smith denies seven counts of sexual activity with a child by a person in a position of trust and three counts of causing a child to engage in sexual activity by a person in a position of trust.
The trial continues on Friday.
