27 Year Old Woman Abducts Boy

The seduction of Billy Elliot: A 27-year-old facing jail for abducting her star pupil, a 15-year-old boy

Please note: 'seduction' is typically used in place of 'rape' when it is an older female who has taken advantage of a younger male.

Last week Pirie found herself in the dock at Preston Crown Court, Lancashire, pleading guilty to abducting Reece, her pupil, in May of last year. She will be sentenced in the New Year and could face jail. The charge carries up to seven years in prison and the judge warned her that he regarded the crime as a ‘serious matter’.

As well as the abduction charge, Pirie, now 27, had also been accused of having sex with Reece. Originally, she was charged with five counts of sexual activity with a child.

She always denied the accusations, and they were going to form the basis of a three-week trial. Then, with just days to go to the hearing, the Crown ­Prosecution Service decided to drop them. New evidence had come to light, they said, that meant there was no realistic prospect of conviction.

Exactly what that evidence was has only been hinted at.

‘The Crown is very concerned in respect of the boy’s previous behaviour, allegations that have been made, and his assertions about the ­relationship with this young lady,’ said Michael Lavery, prosecuting.

He added that the Crown’s case had relied on the ‘quality and credibility’ of the youngster’s evidence, adding that it would be ‘inappropriate’ to continue with the prosecution.

And so it was decided that Pirie and her pupil would never face one another in court. Instead, she walked away on bail, her mother Margo ­telling this paper how the ‘false allegations’ had left her daughter ‘distraught’.

Here is where it gets interesting:

But as the Mail discovered this week, it is Pirie’s victim who has endured far greater trauma thanks to the events of the past two years. Now 17, he chose to waive the anonymity afforded by the law so he could voice his anger at the decision to shelve the sex charges.

He believes that had the roles been reversed — had the teacher been male and the underage pupil, female — there would have been a very ­different outcome.

‘I think it should have gone to trial,’ he said. ‘If it had been the other way round, the sex charges wouldn’t have been dropped, but society sees this in a different way.’