Maya (played by Louisa Clein) has been continuing to groom teenager Jacob (Joe-Warren Plant) on Emmerdale, all while trying to keep up appearances with his step-father David Metcalfe (Matthew Wolfenden) under the same roof.
After arriving in the village last year, Maya subtly made her move on Jacob, playing mind games with him as she tried to resist his advances when he confessed his feelings for the teacher.
However, the illicit affair has continued to escalate following a kiss between the pair before Christmas last year, which was followed by secret messaging between Maya and Jacob as the two tempted fate.
Though, recent scenes on the ITV soap have seen Maya and Jacob finally slept together after weeks of trying to secure stolen moments of passion, with it seeming David was going to catch the two in the act earlier this week.
After finding Maya’s earring in the village hall where she and Jacob had their second raunchy encounter, David suspicions have been raised but has yet to realise exactly what is going on between the pair.
However, although she has been toying with her boyfriend’s step-son, Maya has tried her best to keep in David’s good books, often turning down Jacob to ensure her lover doesn’t catch on to her abuse.
With Jacob ranting to David in the village hall before the shop owner discovered the earring about how he felt his step-father wasn’t giving him any attention, the teenager could be looking to put him in his place.
This could lead Jacob to tell Maya he is going to expose their relationship to David and the rest of the village so his step-father can feel some of the pain he has felt, not realising what his actions would mean for his teacher.
Panicking her secret and illegal behaviour towards Jacob could be exposed, Maya could issue a menacing threat to Jacob as she reminds him about some incriminating evidence she has on him, going all the way back to when the pair were messaging at the beginning of the teachers plan.
Wanting to please Maya, Jacob sent his teacher some explicit pictures of himself which the child groomer could now use as ammunition to ensure her secret remains so, scaring the teenager into silence.
Speaking about the importance of highlighting sexual abuse inflicted by a female onto a male minor, Barnardo’s CEO Javed Khan said: “Many people don’t recognise that sexual abuse of boys is just as serious as sexual abuse of girls.
“These outdated attitudes lead to boys missing out on vital support. They are much less likely than girls to be identified as victims of sexual abuse by professionals, who often don’t see them as victims.
“In fact, boys can be groomed by older men or older women, exploiting feelings of loneliness, their need for care and their desire to be loved before abusing them, just like Maya has done with Jacob in Emmerdale.
“We need to get out of the ‘Mrs Robinson’ mind-set. Abuse is abuse whether it happens to a boy or a girl or whether it’s perpetrated by a man or a woman, and it can cause long term harm, affecting attitudes to love, relationships and sex in adulthood.”
David Metcalfe star Matthew Wolfenden, 38, has recently spoken out about the storyline involving his character, defending the plot although viewers have wanted to turn off.
Emmerdale continues tonight at 7pm on ITV.