'Other girls may be at risk': Woman exposes teacher for allegedly having sex with her when she was 15

The head at a top private school has dramatically quit — a day after he was exposed for allegedly having had sex with a pupil he taught 20 years ago when she was 15 years old.

Emma Heistein decided to speak out about the incident as she feared other girls may be at risk after Alan Adlington-Corfield recently took up a post at a top private co-ed school.

Heistein's revelations are contained in a formal complaint to the South African Council of Educators (Sace).

She shared it with Somerset College in Somerset West, in the Western Cape after which Adlington-Corfield, the executive head, immediately resigned. He had been in the post for four weeks.

Adlington-Corfield, 50, was deputy rector at Michaelhouse in the KwaZulu-Natal Midlands for 15 years until he left in 2021 to take up a post in Kenya. He started his new job at Somerset College in April.

In her complaint, Heistein details an astonishing letter of apology which she says Adlington-Corfield wrote to her parents in 2019, in which he admits to the affair. The Sunday Times has seen the letter.

In it he says he made “an extremely poor decision to have a sexual relationship with Emma”. It was a “highly unacceptable expression of feelings for Emma and one that should never have happened. Having two teenage daughters of my own now, I understand that more than ever”.

It continues: “I have never had another relationship with a person under 21 years of age. I am not a sick predator.” 

Heistein told the Sunday Times this week that the relationship had led to her “sinking into heavy depression” over the years, but that she had kept silent because he said he “deeply loved and cared” for her.

But she felt she had to speak up when he started his new position.

“I hope that by breaking my silence and shedding my shame it supports others to do the same,” Heistein said.

The 36-year-old mother of one, who lives in Canada, said she was in grade 9 when Adlington-Corfield, who was her teacher at Bridge House, a private school in Franschhoek, had sex with her on two occasions. 

A person is guilty of committing statutory rape if he has sex with a child aged between 12 and 15 despite the child having given consent.

In her complaint she said that one of the statutory rapes took place during a school river rafting trip in Namibia in April 2003, and the other at his home in Franschhoek the same year. 

She was the family’s babysitter and stayed overnight at Adlington-Corfield’s home on occasion. 

She stated in her letter that after “sinking into heavy depression” she saw her first psychologist from mid to late 2003 until she completed matric in 2006 “but did not disclose the assault to them”. 

“Around October 2003, Alan noticed that I had started to cut myself to help relieve the emotional stress I was in. He said he could see how much I had changed and that his actions were hurting me and that our ‘sexual relationship’ needed to end, which it immediately did.” 

She said Adlington-Corfield left Bridge House in 2004 and was employed at Michaelhouse but that their “friendship and emotional relationship has however continued off and on” up to the time she wrote the letter in May. 

Heistein wrote in her complaint: “I reached a point of suffering that was becoming severe, so in 2012 I shared with my parents that I thought I might have been sexually assaulted in my teens and that I needed help. I did not disclose to them who it was.” 

In 2017, she collapsed at work and was diagnosed with “extreme exhaustion and depression due to emotional stress”.

She started seeing her psychologist again who asked her to conduct research and “expose myself to information on grooming, and the sexual, mental, emotional and physical impacts and bonding that can happen in sexual abuse relationships”.

“In February 2018, after I read some international articles of other students and teachers sexual abuse stories, I recognised the similarities between what I had and was experiencing with Alan.

“I started to see that Alan’s actions 16 years before were in fact sexual assault and abuse. It was at this point that I disclosed to my parents that it was Alan who had sexually assaulted me when I was 15.” 

She said made a statement of statutory rape and sexual assault to the Franschhoek police station on April 16 2018 and then travelled to Canada with her husband. She was informed in January 2019 that her statement had been lost and was asked to submit another, which she did. 

“I did this and was immediately informed that due to the statutory rape taking place in Namibia and other sexual acts not being a crime until laws changed in 2007, there was nothing the police could use to lay a charge.” 

After his letter of apology in January 2019, she met him in February and he reassured her of the sincerity of his letter and that “he deeply loved and cared for her”. 

“I decided to take Alan’s word and not take legal action any further and returned to Canada.” 

Heistein said she asked Adlington-Corfield to write a letter of apology to her and her parents on December 16 2018, and that his letter arrived on January 8 2019. 

It’s difficult to comment because it has had a huge impact on our lives. We have come to realise that, as parents, we were probably groomed too. It’s hard to comprehend and to come to terms with

—  Mary Heistein, Emma's mother

In his signed letter Adlington-Corfield wrote that their relationship developed into a close emotional relationship.

“On two occasions we had sex. At the time it felt consensual but, of course, in an adult-child relationship nothing is consensual.

Heistein told the Sunday Times that she did not report the incidents to Bridge House because she did not “see it as abuse”. 

“I believed that I was special to him and that I was the only one and that he wanted to be with me and that we potentially might have a future one day.” 

She said she still kept in contact with Adlington-Corfield “because I chose to believe the narrative that I was the only one and that he genuinely loved me and that he made a terrible mistake in being inappropriate with me”. 

She said when she heard he had been appointed at Somerset College she started having flashbacks.

“I feel devastated by the confusion, pain, grief, shame and loss this experience has brought over the last 21 years of my and my family's life.” 

She said her experience taught her that abuse “does not have to present as violent, threatening or forceful but can be presented as gentleness, kindness, caring and loving behaviours”.

“I have learnt that shame thrives in silence, that the basic human need for connection can be a devastatingly destructive weapon when weaponised, and that fear and shame are powerfully complex parts of any abuse.” 

Heistein’s mother, Mary Heistein, told the Sunday Times: “It’s difficult to comment because it has had a huge impact on our lives. We have come to realise that, as parents, we were probably groomed too. It’s hard to comprehend and to come to terms with.”

Luke Lamprecht, the head of advocacy at Women & Men Against Child Abuse, had several consultations with Heistein. He said hers was “a classic case illustrating the dynamics of grooming, almost in a textbook manner”. 

David Clark, head of Bridge House, said they are shocked by the allegations. He said Adlington-Corfield had been employed as a maths teacher from 2001 to 2005, “but the school is completely unaware of the alleged incident/s that took place”.

“We offer our full support to Emma and trust that justice will prevail.”

On behalf of Somerset College, Megan van der Poll, head of the development office, said Adlington-Corfield had been at the school for about four weeks before his resignation. 

“His resignation has nothing to do with Somerset College but a past matter that we only learnt of shortly before his resignation. When the board confronted him with the complaint, he resigned.” 

Sace confirmed it had received a complaint from Heistein and that “it will initiate a process of investigating the matter”. 

Adlington-Corfield, who was given a copy of Heistein’s letter of complaint by the Sunday Times, said “to date no such complaint has been raised with me by Sace and there has also been no court case involving me”.