Teachers ply student, 17, with alcohol before sexually assaulting him

Two married teachers in Britain have been charged with engaging in illegal sex acts with a 17-year-old boy, who they groomed after plying him with alcohol.

Gay Davidson-Shepard, 59, a teacher at Mesa View Middle School in Huntington Beach, and Daniel Alma Shepard, 61, a retired Westminster High School biology teacher, allegedly performed sex acts on the boy on a weekly basis for several months, the Daily Mail reported.

The couple are accused of sexually assaulting the boy starting in April 2009 after they got into their hot tub naked, encouraging the teen to do the same.

They allegedly lured the boy to the house on the premise they would give him alcohol, which they did, while they watched movies and played board games.

Shepard is accused of asking the boy to email him nude photos of himself and of taking nude photographs of the victim and the illegal sex acts. He first befriended the boy when he was a student at Westminster High.

He has been charged with two felony counts of oral copulation of a minor, one felony count of sodomy with a person younger than 18, one felony count of possession and control of child pornography and one misdemeanour count of contributing to the delinquency of a minor.

Davidson-Shepard has been charged with three felony counts each of unlawful sexual intercourse, sodomy with a person younger than 18, oral copulation of a minor and one misdemeanour count of contributing to the delinquency of a minor.

They could face up to five years in jail if convicted.

According to prosecutors, Shepard continued to engage in illegal sex acts with the boy on a weekly basis after the night in the hot tub, until September 2009.

His wife is charged with doing the same until December 2009, when the boy turned 18.

The young man eventually told his mother about the sexual abuse last month and the pair was arrested.