35-year-old Terri Spragg, who had sex with a 14-year-old boy at her home in Ryde, has been sentenced to 3 years in prison as a result of her original sentence at the Isle of Wight Crown Court being overturned by the Court of Appeal.
As previously reported by Island Echo, the former dinner lady was convicted of 7 counts of sexual activity with a child in December last year. She engaged in a series of sexual activities with the victim between 12th August and 1st November 2014, when he was aged 14. She was caught after the victim’s sister discovered messages on his phone.
The mother-of-4 from Bettsworth Road in Haylands was spared prison in January and received a 15 month sentence, suspended for 2 years. She was also ordered to undertake 100 hours of unpaid work and forced to sign the sex offenders’ register for 5 years. A main reason for her escaping an immediate custodial sentence was that her 4 children would have to go into care.
Solicitor General Robert Buckland QC MP referred the original sentence to the Court of Appeal as ‘unduly lenient’. The sentence also sparked outrage from Island residents.
Speaking after today’s hearing, the Solicitor General said:
“Gaining a child’s trust and abusing it in this way is unacceptable. The original sentence failed to take proper account of the seriousness of the offence and the impact it has had on the victim and his family.
“I hope the Court’s decision to impose an immediate prison sentence sends a clear message to society that such offences will not be tolerated.”
