A FEMALE teaching assistant had sex with a teenage pupil.

Freya Squires from Steyne Road, Seaford, began having sex with the girl when she was aged 14.

Squires worked at Tideway School, Newhaven, which is now Seahaven Academy, when she became close to the girl.

Squires, who was openly gay at the school, started to send messages to the young girl. They started to meet outside school and this progressed to meeting at Squires’ house.

Squires began to have sex with the victim, who is now an adult, “nearly every single day after school”.

The girl was abused in the school toilets, the gym toilets, at Seaford beach toilets and Squires’ home.

Squires warned the victim there would be huge consequences if their relationship became public so the teenager wore a blonde wig when she went to visit her at her home.

The victim’s mother had raised concerns about the defendant having “a lot of influence” on her daughter.

Then after years of keeping quiet, the victim heard a relative was attending Seahaven Academy, in Southdown Road, and decided to report Squires.

Yesterday at Hove Crown Court Squires was jailed for three years and four months after pleading guilty to six counts of sexual activity with a child and one count of sexual activity with a child while in a position of trust. Their relationship was described by Judge Shani Barnes as “unlawful, deceitful and manipulative”.

Prosecutor Rachel Beckett said the victim had a troubled home life and was confused about her sexuality.

In a statement read out in court the victim said that at the time she did not see it as sexual abuse but instead felt “in love with her as a parent figure”.

Richard Cherill, defending, said Squires was “utterly ashamed”.

He said she had a “difficult childhood”, has been suffering with long term mental health issues and alcohol addiction.

He told the court the lesson had been learned and she is an “extremely low risk”.

Squires, now 46, no longer works at the school.

Judge Barnes told her: “You let your desires overrule you and didn’t stop yourself entering an inappropriate relationship. You were a teaching assistant and she was a 14-year-old schoolgirl. I cannot ignore the severity of this case and I need to make it clear that society will not tolerate this crime.”