Alley Bardfield kissed the boy, took off his clothes and had sex with him on the bed she usually shared with her partner at her marital home. A court heard Bardfield, 34, also gave the youngster $700 (£520) over several months via an app, and exchanged naked photographs on SnapChat with the boy.

But the victim's parents noticed the boy "acting differently" at home and, upon checking his phone and social media, discovered he had been at Bardfield's address in Mount Zion, Illnois, the month prior. These were for what Bardfield described as "play dates," encounters which on one occasion led to sex.

When the youngster's parents confronted him about the texts they saw, he admitted what happened and the family contacted police. The parents also saw photographs of their son and the teacher together at her home.