Lindy Leah. (Image: Liverpool Echo)
A married mum “fell in love” with a young boy at a children’s care home where she worked, .
The care worker is on trial at , accused of abusing her position of trust with a teenage resident at a St Helens children’s home.
Lindy Leah, the former deputy manager, denies the charge of being a person in a position of trust causing or inciting a child to engage in sexual activity, reported.
The prosecution alleges that Leah, 44, developed a romantic attachment to the boy, going beyond appropriate care and support.
They claim her behavior was “highly inappropriate,” citing observations from colleagues and numerous exchanged between Leah and the teenager.
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The care worker is on trial at Liverpool Crown Court. (Image: Getty)
These messages, the prosecution argues, contain expressions of love and suggest a relationship far removed from that of key worker and child.
Simon Christie told a jury of three men and nine women during the prosecution’s opening this afternoon, Monday: “This case concerns what the crown say is a serious and persistent breach of trust. Lindy Leah, by her own admission, fell in love with him.
“But the crown say that this went beyond the sort of parental love that offers care and support, and it became something more physical and inappropriate.
“[The boy] will not be giving evidence to you in this case. He does not support the prosecution. So what we have are the observations of some of those adults who witnessed Lindy Leah interact with [the boy] and who will say that her behaviour was often highly inappropriate.
“In addition, we have the downloads of many messages between the two of them, principally from WhatsApp, that paint a picture of a relationship far removed from key worker and child. There are many expressions of love in the WhatsApp messages.
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“There is an occasion when the defendant, Lindy Leah, had taken [the boy’s] phone. She tells him how he can have it back. ‘I’ll give it you Wednesday for a love bite’.”
Leah, of Capesthorne Road in Orford, Warrington, was also said to have video footage of the teenager while he was “asleep or in bed” stored on her mobile phone.
Mr Christie continued: “Whether you find, cumulatively, that what was going was sexual is a matter for you.
“The defendant will accept she was in a position of trust but will say that she did try to act more as a friend or contemporary towards [the boy] and will say that she, on occasion, acted in a non-professional way, but that this was all in a misguided attempt to protect him.”
Leah was spoken to by the police in June last year after concerns over her behaviour emerged.
At that time she “denied any improper behaviour” and was released on bail under the condition that she stops contact with the boy. However, a colleague then allegedly saw her with him in an Audi car at Walton Hall Park the following month.
Jurors were also told that other co-workers were “greatly concerned” by the defendant “frequently” wearing “completely unsuitable clothing” which was “skin tight and highly revealing”. This included Leah wearing a “bodysuit without underwear” and “highly visible thongs”.
One member of staff recalled her telling the teen “I’ve had a shower but I forgot to bring clean knickers” on one occasion. She was then said to have “pulled up her bodysuit” in a revealing manner before stating: “Oh, you can see my nipples.”
A fellow manager also reported that, after raising concerns over seeing the boy “lying in Lindy Leah’s bed at the home”, she replied: “He’s comfortable. He always does that and no one else has a problem with it.”
The teen’s mum was meanwhile said to have been “initially impressed with the care her son was getting” at the home, but “grew more concerned as time went on”.
When she approached Leah, who wore a black jumper in the dock with her blonde hair tied back in a ponytail, over these concerns, she replied that he “had her wrapped around his little finger” and that she “loved him like one of her own” and “thought he was gorgeous and handsome”.
Mr Christie added: “She has never admitted that any sexual activity took place with [the boy]. It is for you to determine whether that is correct or not.”
Leah, who is represented by Rebecca Filletti, denies one count of being a person in a position of trust causing or inciting a child to engage in sexual activity.
The trial, before Judge Brian Cummings KC, continues, and is expected to last for around a week.