The husband of a teacher accused of repeatedly having sexual activity with a 15-year-old boy has told a court their marriage was as “strong” as ever.
Daniel Barber, 38, said his relationship with his wife Kandice Barber was fine even though she is facing trial for straddling the boy in a car then having sex with him in a field in woodland. See here for the initial report.
Mr Barber, a delivery driver, says he never had any problems in his marriage even though his wife struggled to conceive at the time of the alleged sex acts with the boy.
According to him, he had “full faith” in her.
A jury has already convicted his wife of sexual communication after she sent him a video of her masturbating with sex toys but Mr Barber speaking to Amersham Law Court on Monday, January 25 said he was unaffected by Kandice Barber’s conviction.
Instead, he said the video had never been produced so he believed his wife’s denial .
Kandice Barber, 35, of Wendover, Bucks., denies three counts of causing or inciting a child aged under 16 years to engage in a sexual act.
Mr Barber told the court: “Our relationship is how it is today, it has never changed. We have always been good and we have always been strong.”
He added: “When my wife is on the phone, I am not one of those people who constantly looks at her to see who she is on the phone to. I have full faith in her.”
The husband was asked: “This jury is aware and you are too Mr Barber, that your wife was convicted of sending a video of herself masturbating, to a pupil at the school. Is that something that surprises you?”
“Yeah, because there is no video”, Mr Barber replied.
He added: “There was no evidence of a video, so I cannot react to something I cannot see.”
Asked about his wife’s conviction for sexual communication he said: “Again, photos were there but there was no evidence that my wife had sent those photos.”
The court heard Mr Barber had two children from a previous relationship and his wife had three.
Prosecutor Richard Milne said: “Forgive me Mr Barber, I do not mean to pry unnecessarily but there are matters that this jury have to consider.
“In the period September to October 2018, you were trying for a baby and Mrs Barber was quite organised about this sort of thing.
“Just dealing with it as plainly as I can, that meant that on certain occasions, sexual intercourse needed to take place.”
Mr Barber said there was no pressure on their sex lives, adding: “We did not have a schedule.
“We did not see it like that. Whenever we decided that we wanted to make love, we would make love and if it happened, it happened.”
The court heard Barber had Googled “good secluded areas”, which prosecutors say was a plan to find places to have sex with the boy, the defendant claimed was for walking.
Mr Barber said he and his wife regularly walked their bull mastiff in woodland near their home but he said Kandice had never told him she was looking for new walking spots.
Barber had also carried out an internet search for “Holiday Inn Wycombe”, which she was told the court was to find a place for her son to meet his biological father.
Mr Barber said the couple had been planning to foster, saying the subject was “close to my wife’s heart” because Kandice’s step-father had been fostered.
Mr Barber told the jury his wife of four hears had been his “rock” during her last trial.
