A drama teacher has been found guilty of having an 'exploitative' sexual relationship with an underage teenage girl.

Kim Connor, 46, began teaching the girl at at an independent Salford stage school when the pupil was just nine years old.

Later, when the girl was a teenager, Connor groomed the girl by taking her to restaurants and top London shows and even going on holiday together.

The youngster was said to have been 'in thrall' to Connor. The victim's parents considered Connor to like 'a big sister' to their daughter.

The youngster was said to have been 'in thrall' to Kim Connor, 46, pictured, who began teaching her at stage school when she was aged just nine.

The teacher, who was 29 at the time her pupil was 14, would take her shopping and when the girl was 'about 16', took her on holiday to Portugal.

Connor is alleged to have told the girl that if anyone questioned them in public, she should tell people that she was 21.

She also told her victim that they could not show 'overt signs of affection'.

The teacher also insisted that she hid if they spotted any other pupils or their parent when they were out together.

When the girl's parents were busy visiting a terminally-ill relative at a hospice, they allowed her to spend the night at Connor's house.

But instead of just offering her a place to stay in a time of need, her attentions progressed to kissing the schoolgirl 'open-mouthed' and touching her intimately over her clothing, the jury was told.

They began sharing a bed, the court heard, and one night Connor opened a safe in her wardrobe which contained sex toys, encouraging them to use them on one another.

'I adored her, I idolised her,' the former pupil told the jury. 'She made me feel special because I thought she had chosen me.'

The accuser – who cannot be named for legal reasons – says she was inspired to reveal the abuse which allegedly happened 15 years ago by the #MeToo movement.

Minshull Street Crown Court, pictured, heard Kim Connor, 46, groomed the girl, who was aged 14 at the time in 2004

Prosecutor Darren Preston told Minshull Street Crown Court. '[Ms Connnor] knew full well what she was doing was wrong.'

He added that schoolgirl was 'in thrall' to her and 'besotted.'

The prosecution said: '[The girl] thought they were partners, that they were in a relationship,' he added.

But he said in reality Connor had 'exploited' the 'vulnerability' of a young girl.

The defence had claimed, however, that the victim was motivated by jealousy after Connor was appointed principal of another stage school, and the relationship did not start until after the girl turned 18.

The girl told the court that the teacher first kissed her on the lips while they were sitting together on the floor in 2004, when she was 14 and Connor was aged 29.

'She leant over me and kissed me, and I kissed her back. I remember thinking 'I've just kissed my teacher'.'

The ex-pupil said Connor became increasingly 'tactile' as she turned 15, stroking her when they greeted one another.

'I was quite bewildered,' she said. 'I went along with it because I had a lot of trust in Kim.'

She said Connor would take her to shows including Cabaret in London during half-term, staying in hotels.

But after starting university she began to realise the relationship 'wasn't right', she said.

She said she ended the relationship after learning Connor was secretly having fertility treatment, saying 'she wanted me to raise children with her'.

'The first 15 years of my life were ruined by Kim Connor,' she said.

'I had to have counselling for depression and anxiety.'

When she was arrested, Connor admitted the pair had been in a sexual relationship but insisted it had not begun until the girl turned 18.

A jury found Connor guilty of three offences of sexual activity with a child by a person in a position of trust; and a further three counts of causing or inciting a child to engage in sexual activity by a person in a position of trust.

They also found her not guilty of three offences of sexual activity with a child by a person in a position of trust; and a further three counts of causing or inciting a child to engage in sexual activity by a person in a position of trust.

Connor will be sentenced on April 17.