Former teacher and convicted sex offender Marco Chiro resentenced, can seek parole in 15 days

CONVICTED sex-offending schoolteacher Marco Chiro can seek release from prison in just 15 days’ time, following his resentencing in the wake of a law-changing High Court judgment.

Marco Chiro, who has been in custody since May 2015, can seek release on parole in 15 days’ time.

• Teacher ‘should only be sentenced for kissing abused student’
• 10 years jail for sex abuse language teacher Marco Chiro
• Chiro High Court appeal prompts urgent SA law change
• Sex abuse teacher ‘should be released immediately’

CONVICTED sex-offending schoolteacher Marco Chiro can seek release from prison in just 15 days’ time, following his resentencing in the wake of a law-changing High Court judgment.

On Monday, the Court of Criminal Appeal resentenced Chiro, ordering he serve 3 ½ years’ jail with a 2 ½-year non-parole period.

Justices Ann Vanstone, Trish Kelly and Michael David agreed that penalty should be backdated to May 15, 2015 — the day Chiro went into custody following his District Court trial.

That means Chiro, 55, will be eligible to seek release on parole from November 14 this year.

In 2015, Chiro was found guilty of the brazen sexual exploitation of a teenage girl.

He repeatedly abused his victim throughout her time at Norwood Morialta High School, while he was working as its language teacher.

Prior to sentencing, Chiro’s counsel argued that jurors had not specified which acts of sexual abuse they had found proven beyond reasonable doubt.

That, they claimed, meant Chiro should be sentenced on the most favourable basis and on the least of his crimes — that of kissing the girl.

The District Court rejected that argument and jailed Chiro for 10 years, prompting a series of appeals that eventually led to a High Court challenge.

Earlier this month, the High Court agreed with the defence position and ordered Chiro be re-sentenced on the basis of kissing the girl.

The State Government subsequently drafted urgent legislation to ensure the situation would not be repeated, and the new law passed the Upper House unanimously.

Chiro, meanwhile, asked the Court of Criminal Appeal to release him immediately, saying the time he had already served was sufficient penalty.

In their published reasons, Justices Vanstone, Kelly and David acknowledged the limit of their remit in the case.

“This court is directed (by the High Court) to resentence Chiro on the strictly confined version of the course of events — kissing — described by the victim,” Justice Vanstone wrote.

However, she said all parties agreed that was to be done against a background of Chiro’s “demonstrated intention to cultivate the victim’s affection over an extended period”.

She said — and the other justices agreed — Chiro should be sentenced “on the basis most favourable” to him, being the “two least serious instances” of kissing.

Follow @SeanFewster