Lindy Leah, 44, from Warrington, is accused of engaging in a sexual relationship with a teenage resident of a care home in St Helens where she was working as a deputy manager
A care worker who allegedly “fell in love with” with a boy at the children’s home where she worked claimed it was “completely normal” when he was found in her bed.
Lindy Leah is accused of engaging in a sexual relationship with a teenage resident of the care home in St Helens where she was employed as deputy manager. The 44-year-old was reported to have worn inappropriate and revealing outfits in his presence and allowed him to sleep in her bed, as well as apparently asking him “for a love bite”. But she “denies any improper behaviour” and went on trial at Liverpool Crown Court on Monday.
A jury of six men and six women heard this afternoon that Leah, from Orford, Warrington, was employed as deputy manager of the care home where the boy had been placed and was assigned as his key worker, reported the Liverpool Echo.
Graham Pickavance said during the prosecution’s opening: “The defendant, by her own admission, admitted that she fell in love with him. But the crown say that it was not simply parental love, but something that went far beyond that and was physical love.”
While the teenager “does not support the prosecution”, colleagues described “inappropriate” behaviour from Leah, who wore a black dress in the dock with her blonde hair tied back in a bun, as well as “unprofessional interventions which prevented [the boy] from being challenged about his behaviour”.
He was also said to have been seen lying in her bed at the home “as if it was completely normal”, with the defendant having apparently remarked of this: “He’s comfortable. He always does that. No one else has a problem.”
A subsequent investigation by Merseyside Police similarly recovered video footage of the teenager asleep in her bed. Leah was meanwhile reported to have “worn skin tight and highly revealing clothing” in his presence, including a bodysuit with no underwear and a “highly visible thong”.
On one occasion, she was said to have pulled at her bodysuit at a time when her nipples were apparently “highly visible”, which was supposedly accompanied by her saying “I’ve had a shower but forgot to bring clean knickers”.
The youth’s mum also “grew more concerned” about the relationship between her son and Leah, who allegedly told the mother that the boy “had her wrapped around his little finger” and called him “gorgeous and handsome”.
Mr Pickavance added that a string of messages exchanged between the two also “painted a picture of a relationship far removed from a carer and child”. In one, referring to a phone which had been confiscated from him, Leah told him: “I’ll give it you on Wednesday for a love bite.”
When interviewed by detectives, she “denied any improper behaviour”. But, having been released on bail under conditions not to contact the boy, the two were then spotted together weeks later beside a white Audi car at Walton Hall and Gardens in Warrington by a fellow care worker.
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.
