A young woman who engaged in sexual activity with a 15-year-old boy at a secure care facility in Bucks has been jailed.

Appearing at Kingston Crown Court today (Tuesday), 26-year-old Ashley Wright was sentenced to two years and two months in prison.

Wright had previously admitted abusing a position of trust to incite the child to engage in sexual activity while she was working as a secure care officer at the facility in Buckinghamshire.

She had also pleaded guilty to offences of sexual touching and engaging in sexual communications with a child, all relating to the same 15-year-old boy, who cannot be named for legal reasons, between May 13 and December 31 2019.

Patrick Duffy, prosecuting, told the court that one of Wright’s colleagues had noticed her and the boy engaging in “inappropriate behaviour” in front of other children, including “inappropriately touching each other’s thighs underneath a desk.”

When confronted by the colleague, Wright told them “I’m not doing anything wrong.”

Speaking about the victim, Mr Duffy said: “He was a vulnerable child and she was employed to care for him and obviously there is a breach of trust there.”

The court heard that last year, during a search of Wright’s home in Wigston, Leicestershire, sexual photos of her with the victim and an eight-page “love letter” were discovered.

Defence lawyer James Francis Keeley told the court how his client is a “hard-working young woman” who is “deeply ashamed” of her actions.

He added: “What makes this an unusual and exceptional case is the defendant is 26 years of age, of previous good character, and has genuine, heartfelt remorse for what she has done and the breach of trust she has caused in this case.”

Judge Rajeev Shetty took one third off Wright’s sentence because she pleaded guilty, but he was also critical that she continued the relationship with the victim while under police investigation.

He said: “You had responsibility for his welfare and safety.

“Instead of safeguarding these things, you had a sexual relationship with him.

“The period of time over which offences continued is very significant.

“Despite being under investigation, you continued the relationship, and levels of intimacy increased rather than decreased.”