SA OSHC assistant director jailed for sexual abuse of boy, 12, through more than 500 illicit messages

A former OSHC boss who sent more than 500 sexual messages, including photos, to a boy in her care has been jailed after finally apologising to her victim.

A woman in her 30s has been jailed in Adelaide District Court after sexually abusing a boy, 12. Picture: Dean Martin

An OSHC assistant director who pursued a boy in her care, 12, for sex through more than 500 explicit images and messages has finally apologised for her years of offending.

In the District Court on Tuesday, the woman - who cannot be named to protect her victim’s privacy - tearfully read a public apology from the dock.

She conceded she should have “reached out” and “made an effort” to “say sorry” to the boy she had groomed through the messages, then encouraged to touch her body on OSHC grounds.

“I know that would not have fixed any of the hurt I have caused but it was the right thing to do... I hope my victim is able to find peace and happiness,” she said.

“I’m profoundly ashamed of my past behaviour, but I take full responsibility for my actions... during that time of my life I was reckless, selfish and impulsive.

“I had not given consideration to the fall-out of my choices and how they had hurt the victim.”

The woman, in her 30s, pleaded guilty to one count of sexual abuse of a child, 12, at the OSHC centre at which she was employed in 2009.

In his victim impact statement, he said the woman had groomed, abused and silenced him by making him think “a sexual connection between a child and an adult woman was okay”.

Counsel for the woman – who told the boy about her “sex dreams” and sent him nude photos – said she offended because she grew up with body image issues.

In sentencing on Tuesday, Judge Ian White said the state’s courts had recognised that non-contact sexual offending was just as harmful to children as contact offending.

The boy’s victim impact statement, he said, made clear the deleterious effect of “keeping a secret”, as the woman “unfairly asked” of him, for most of his life.

“Your life continued on as if this never happened,” he said, noting she had continued messaging the boy while pregnant.

“To your credit, you did everything you could to ensure (he was not) disbelieved in what he disclosed (about the abuse).”

Judge White said the woman was “difficult” to sentence given the many positive factors in her favour, but ruled they could not outweigh the seriousness of her actions.

He sentenced the woman to four years and four months’ jail, with a 26-month non-parole period.