Music teacher Janelle Fletcher testifies, denies sexually abusing teen girl
Janelle Colville Fletcher, 40, is contesting the allegations that she groomed and sexually abused a teen girl some years ago and testified this week at the South Australian District Court before Judge Joanne Fuller.
The prosecution, led by Chris Allen, allege Ms Fletcher abused the girl in various locations and also that she communicated with her and another teenage girl to make them amenable to sexual activity.
Some of the alleged offending happened when the two girls and Ms Fletcher were alone together in a room, the prosecution said, with the teacher allegedly performing a lap dance on a chair.
She then allegedly 'dared' the two girls to kiss each other and asked if they would 'date' each other.
That same night, Mr Allen said, Ms Fletcher then spent time alone with one of the girls and touched her genital area.
The alleged grooming and abuse of the girl then went on for months at various locations, the prosecution said, including the home of Ms Fletcher and in Ms Fletcher's car.
This week, the prosecution presented emails and messages between the girl and Ms Fletcher and also various photographs that they allege demonstrate Ms Fletcher was in a sexual relationship with the child.
A photo taken from a photo booth at a cinema shows the pair kissing, but Ms Fletcher, under questioning from defence lawyer Andrew Culshaw, said she was 'pulled in and the photo went off'.
'In the second photo from the bottom … we can see you and (the girl) appear to be kissing … can you explain to Her Honour what happened,' Mr Culshaw asked.
'It was meant to be a pretend kiss like we had done previously where our lips don't actually touch, and in that particular photo we got close and she did sort of pull me in and the photo went off, yeah,' Ms Fletcher said.
'When you say 'she pulled you in and the photo went off', what happened?' Mr Culshaw pressed.
'Just like around my neck sort of thing, just like, just so we would touch, yeah.
'Did you voluntarily engage in a kiss with her?' Mr Culshaw pressed
'No, I did not,' Ms Fletcher said.
Other photos, exhibited in court, show the girl at Ms Fletcher's house.
'You appear to be leaning against her (the girl),' Mr Allen said.
'Yes,' Ms Fletcher replied.
'Is that a selfie taken by you?' Mr Allen asked.
'It does appear that way, yes,' Ms Fletcher said.
'Does it appear that it is taken in your house?' Mr Allen continued.
'Yes,' Ms Fletcher said.
In a series of emails read out in court, Ms Fletcher appears to express strong feelings for the girl.
In one, Ms Fletcher wrote: 'My feelings for you are not lust but love.'
'In your mind, what is the difference between the two?' Mr Culshaw asked.
'Lust is like with you are attracted to someone. You have the hots for them, so I guess similar,' Ms Fletcher replied.
'Love is not necessarily sexual or romantic, it is love.'
In other emails, Ms Fletcher told the girl: 'I am being selfish wanting you to myself when I need to let you live your life with someone your own age', and also 'right now, we can't be open. Right now we will have to continue as we are in secret ...'
But Ms Fletcher argued these messages were written to keep the girl happy and also to guide her away.
'Really, all the emails, the intention behind it was to try and make (the girl) feel that she is not abandoned, she is loved, she is wanted and that in another time or place, maybe she could entertain that she could be with me, but my sole intent of all of these was to slowly get her to think it was her idea to not be with me but to be with … someone her own age and I wanted her to think it was her idea,' Ms Fletcher said.
She told the court the girl had expressed romantic feelings for her and that she was struggling with her sexual identity.
Ms Fletcher said the girl started exhibiting 'concerning behaviour' and she sought to point her in the direction of a more age-appropriate relationship.
In one email, she told the girl she was 'completely in love' with her, but she told the court that was a lie.
'I did think she was a beautiful person,' Ms Fletcher said.
'It wasn't true that I was in love with her.'
'Why did you write it there,' Mr Culshaw asked.
'Because that's what I knew she wanted to hear,' Ms Fletcher said.
Mr Allen, in his opening cross-examination of Ms Fletcher, reiterated the prosecution's allegations of extended sexual abuse at various locations and Ms Fletcher flatly denied each allegation.
When Mr Allen said Ms Fletcher was grinding on a chair inside a room with the girl and another girl present, Ms Fletcher appeared to giggle.
'Do you think that's funny?' Mr Allen said.
'Sorry, I don't mean to be rude. No, that's not,' Ms Fletcher replied.
Ms Fletcher holds a PhD in music education.
She told the court that she was heterosexual and believed in the Catholic faith.
She was still legally married to a man, though the pair had separated, she told the court.
Closing arguments in the judge-alone trial are expected on Monday.
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