Lindy Leah claimed she had ‘fallen in love with’ the unnamed teen resident of the Merseyside care home where she worked, but accepted her messages were ‘inappropriate’
A married mum who asked a young care home resident for a “love bite” after claiming to have fallen for him has been found guilty of a sex crime.
Lindy Leah claimed to have “fallen in love with” a teen resident of a home in St Helens, Merseyside, where she was employed as the deputy manager. The mum, 44, was said to have worn inappropriate, revealing outfits around the child, and had allowed him to sleep in her bed. Leah, of Capesthorne Road in Orford, Warrington, claimed during the trial at Liverpool Crown Court that she had seen herself as a mother figure to the boy, and denied “any improper behaviour”.
But the trial also heard that she had, in a series of WhatsApp messages, asked him “for a love bite” and even encouraged him to go MFC (missing from care) so they could have a drug-fuelled “night away from everyone”. It comes after man called 999 for ‘his own protection’ – then ended up jailed himself.
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The Liverpool ECHO reports that Leah was convicted today of being a person in a position of trust causing or inciting a child to engage in sexual activity, after jurors returned verdicts following deliberations this morning.
They had been shown a series of WhatsApp messages exchanged between Leah and the child, with the mum saying in one text that she was “proper paranoid” she had “lost him to a slag”. In another text, she said the two could enjoy a “night away” if she awoke “from these tablets and wine”.
She said: “If you never met me then your life would be better. I miss you so much. All I want is for me and you to have a night away from everyone, just us. So if I wake up from these tablets and wine, then we will.” Leah then went on to add: “Do you wanna go MSC [missing from care]? I love you so much. Can I book somewhere for me and you on Friday? Red and silky with some balloons and flake.”
Prosecutor Graham Pickavance told the court that “balloons” was a “colloquial term” which referred to the class C drug nitrous oxide. In another message, Leah teases she would return the return his phone “for a love bite”.
She claimed the messages were just “banter” when presented with them, saying: “I’m joking with him. I think I’m funny. It was just banter. I don’t want a love bite off a 15-year-old boy, I have a husband. He was covered in love bites, we’d all been making fun of him. I was just referring to it and laughing about it.”
Leah denied having taken drugs with the boy, and said she had “absolutely not” intended for a trip with the teen to involve sexual activity.
After being asked how she felt about the messages “in general terms”, she said she felt they were “completely unprofessional and inappropriate”. She added: “I think I acted on fear. I think I was acting like a mother, or we were friends. [The boy] didn’t have anybody that cared about him. He was so alone. He just attached himself to me. I’m just a really loving person.
“I just loved him and really looked out for him. I thought he was my son. I thought he was my little friend. I had such an emotional, maternal attachment to him. It’s inappropriate. It’s not ok.”
Leah went on to say her “heart was in the right place”. She has been remanded in custody ahead of sentencing, which is due to take place in September at Liverpool Crown Court.