Alleged teacher student sexual relationship claim hits court

A Queensland man is suing his former teacher for over $1 million, claiming she initiated a long sexual relationship when he was a 13-year-old student at a boarding school.

The offences are alleged to have happened at a Toowoomba boarding school.

An ex-student from a Toowoomba school is suing his former teacher for more than $1 million, claiming the woman initiated a long-running sexual relationship with him when he was just 13.

The man is suing the former teacher in the Supreme Court, claiming their alleged relationship impacted his subsequent education and employment opportunities and left him with mental health issues, including post-traumatic stress disorder, and contributed to the breakdown of his marriage.

Barrister Brian Dooley SC, for the plaintiff, said during the civil trial before Justice Soraya Ryan that the court would hear evidence that the boy, from a farming family, started as a boarder at the school in Year 8 when he was 13.

In his opening address, Mr Dooley said the boy was overwhelmed by the size of the new school and the rigid rules, and was grateful when the teacher, who was in her mid-20s, took an interest in him, leading other students to label him class pet.

Mr Dooley said the court would hear the relationship between the pair slowly developed during teaching, private tutoring lessons and other encounters in the teacher’s classroom, car and home, starting with touching, hugging and kissing before eventually leading to oral sex and sexual intercourse.

He said the court would also be shown notes passed between the pair which allegedly included declarations of love, comments from the woman that she thought of the plaintiff all day, and references to love songs including Savage Garden’s Truly Madly Deeply and Celine Dion’s Seduces Me.

The court was told the plaintiff’s father was expected to give evidence that he often attended his son’s sporting matches and had noticed the pair were regularly seen physically touching, which he found “a little unusual”.

Mr Dooley said the plaintiff’s mother would also give evidence that on one occasion the teacher asked to come visit the family farm with the boy, claiming she liked to see her students’ home base, which the mother found surprising but allowed because she was happy her son was being given special attention.

“The father will tell you he said he was surprised about the manner of dress of the defendant (when they arrived)… she was dressed like a teenager,” Mr Dooley said.

“The next morning the plaintiff’s mother heard giggling and carrying on in the plaintiff’s bedroom, and went in there and found the plaintiff and the defendant in their pyjamas lying on the bed joking and laughing and playing, which then having been discovered like that (the defendant) quickly went away and dressed and returned.”

The court heard it would be alleged the relationship came to an end when the boy’s parents found love notes between the pair in his bedroom, which they raised with the school, prompting the woman’s resignation.

The trial continues.