Former trainee teacher found guilty of sexually abusing 15-year-old student

CONTENT WARNING: This article refers to child abuse.

A former trainee teacher has been found guilty of sexually abusing a schoolboy following a two-week Supreme Court trial.

The woman, who currently can’t be named for legal reasons, met the victim while carrying out a placement at his school as she completed her teaching degree.

During the trial, jurors heard a key issue was whether the teacher knew the boy was 15 when he told her he was 16.

The 12 jurors deliberated for about a day before returning to the courtroom on Friday morning (27 September).

They found her guilty of four charges, including persistent sexual abuse of a child, grooming and supplying pornographic material to a young person.

However, she was found not guilty of the remaining two charges, which were a grooming charge and committing an act of indecency on a child.

As the verdict was read, the woman put her head down and wiped at her eyes with a handkerchief.

While he was not in her class, the teacher met the boy at his school. During his interview with police, the boy claimed he would go into her classroom and would “pretty much flirt with her” in the schoolyard during recess and lunch.

The former teacher said students sent her friend requests on social media, including the schoolboy, once she left the school in late 2020. The two would ultimately begin communicating regularly online.

She would go on to transfer the boy money, buy him things, drive him places, and send him explicit photos and videos of herself.

Prosecutor Emilija Beljic used part of her closing submission to argue the woman deliberately sought a relationship with the boy by doing these things.

She gave him “very adult things that he couldn’t access on his own”, Ms Beljic said, which tied him to her.

This formed the basis of the grooming charge that she was found guilty of.

Jurors had previously heard that when the teacher was arrested in 2022, the boy told his mother, “I can’t live without her”.

When she gave evidence on Tuesday (24 September), the woman claimed that she was just friends with the boy and there was no romantic or sexual relationship between them.

She also said she only sent more explicit photographs of herself to the boy after he turned 16, after sending him a photograph of her cleavage beforehand.

The woman told jurors the schoolboy was “very persistent and very pushy and forceful” when he asked her for “nudes”.

In his closing address, her barrister, Sam Pararajasingham, said the schoolboy sought the material to serve “a particular purpose”.

This was so he could show it to people to make his then-girlfriend jealous and impress his friends, he alleged.

After the verdicts were delivered, Acting Justice John Burns thanked the jury for their service.

“It’s never easy being part of the jury and it’s particularly difficult in cases such as the present,” he told them.

“I want to thank you on behalf of the community.”

Ms Beljic applied for the woman’s bail to be revoked, but this request was denied.

Mr Pararajasingham told the court that while he acknowledged the “serious” nature of his client’s offending, it was a “live question as to whether this woman needs to serve a full-time custodial sentence”.

The case will return to court next week to organise a sentencing date.

If this story has raised any concerns for you, 1800RESPECT, the national 24-hour sexual assault, family and domestic violence counselling line, can be contacted on 1800 737 732. Help and support are also available through the Canberra Rape Crisis Centre on 02 6247 2525, the Domestic Violence Crisis Service ACT on 6280 0900, the Sexual Violence Legal Services on 6257 4377 and Lifeline on 13 11 14. In an emergency, call triple zero.