Former teacher wears fake blonde wig to court before admitting to sexually touching teen boy
A former Goulburn school teacher has pleaded guilty to sexually touching a 15-year-old boy, after making a bizarre spectacle of herself outside court.
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A former Goulburn school teacher has pleaded guilty to sexually touching a 15-year-old boy, after making a bizarre spectacle of herself outside court on Wednesday.
Cassandra Hingeley, 39, pleaded guilty to sexually touching child between 10 and 16 years and incite child between 10 and 16 to sexually touch at Wollongong Local Court on November 6, after flirty Instagram messages lead to a late night meet up with a teenage boy.
The 39-year-old caught the attention of the media early on Wednesday morning, after arriving to court in an ill-fitting, curly blonde wig and oversized sunglasses.
Once inside the courthouse, Hingeley ditched the disguise, and details about her predatory behaviour were revealed.
According to court documents, Hingeley first met the boy while he was a student at the public school she taught at.
Sometime later he tracked Hingeley down on Instagram, finding her through her handle “Cass in the Country”.
Over a number of weeks, Hingeley and the teenage boy exchanged messages and photos via social media, at times discussing the possibilities of meeting up and having sex.
Just a few days before Christmas last year, on December 21, Hingeley messaged the teenager, telling him “you know I was thinking of coming down this weekend”.
At the time, Hingeley was living in Goulburn, while the teen was living elsewhere.
After receiving Hingeley’s message, the victim responded telling her he could “easily” sneak out to meet her.
She then responded with “F*ck I’m seriously thinking about coming down now. How much do you want it.”
After the victim responded with “so f***ing much”, court documents say Hingeley got in her car and made the two-hour and 10 minute drive to meet the teen.
After picking the teenager up from his home, the pair drove around the Illawarra and “talked for a while”, before deciding to head to a local beach.
Once they arrived, Hingeley and the victim walked down to the beach, where court documents say they “kissed and hugged”. The pair then started to “touch each other”. According to the documents, with the consent of the teenager, Hingeley started to stroke his groin area from the outside of his pants, before he began to touch her breasts and vagina.
After walking back to the car, Hingeley drove the victim to a nearby location, where she left him to wait for a lift at 1.30am.
Just days after the encounter with Hingeley, the boy confessed what had happened to a Life Without Barriers employee who contacted police.
On January 14, Hingeley was arrested at her Taralga home and taken to Goulburn Police Station.
After pleading guilty to the offences on Wednesday, Hingeley changed her clothes again, put her wig back on and left the court.
The 39-year-old has gone to great lengths to avoid identification at her court appearances, often changing her clothes, wearing red and blonde wigs as well as beanies in an attempt to disguise herself.
She will return to court for sentencing in January.