Wantirna College teacher Azar Rahmatzadeh jailed after having sex with ‘favourite student’

A teacher who had sex with her “favourite student” because she was lonely during Covid lockdowns has come face-to-face with his parents in court.

Wantirna College teacher Azar Rahmatzadeh has been jailed for having sex with her student. Picture: Supplied

A Wantirna College teacher who had sex with her “favourite student” because she was lonely could spend less than a year behind bars.

Azar Rahmatzadeh, 45, sat just metres away from the teenage boy and his parents in the County Court on Friday as she was sentenced to a minimum of one year jail after pleading guilty to the sexual penetration of a child under 16.

The Croydon woman, who blamed loneliness caused by Covid lockdowns for plying the boy full of booze and having sex with him at her home, attempted to make one last apology to the family in court but was ignored as she was ushered into custody.

Judge Anne Hassan said while the case was an example of “human frailty and the effects loneliness” can have on a person, Rahmatzadeh’s actions were a “significant breach of trust”.

“You clearly understood what you were doing was wrong,” she said.

“Your offending was objectively serious and your moral culpability was high.”

The Spanish teacher had first accepted the boy’s invitation to go for a drink after he messaged her on social media in the January school holidays last year.

The former Wantirna College teacher will spend a minimum of one year behind bars.

After picking the teen up from the train station, Rahmatzadeh drove him back to her place, telling him to duck his head on the way.

Behind closed doors, the boy drank numerous Jack Daniels and coke before Rahmatzadeh sat on his lap and gave him a kiss.

The situation then escalated to the woman’s bedroom where the pair had sexual intercourse.

The court heard the high school teacher told the boy “this is so wrong” as she giggled during the incident but continued anyway.

In the weeks after the incident, the teacher sent numerous messages to the boy, telling him he was her “favourite student” and that she missed him.

“Hey handsome … f – king love your guts forever,” one message read.

In her interview with police, the once well-respected teacher immediately confessed, admitting it was wrong and that she was “old enough to be his mother”.

“I’m so embarrassed … so ashamed,” she had said.

The court heard a three-second video the boy took of his teacher sitting on his lap in the stairwell of her home that day would ultimately expose what the teacher had hoped to remain a secret.

In sentencing Rahmatzadeh, Judge Hassan accepted she was “deeply remorseful”, had lost her career and reputation, and had experienced shame and abuse.

Numerous character references from long term colleagues and friend’s which painted Rahmatzadeh as “caring” and “compassionate” friend and teacher also weighed into the judgment, Judge Hassan said.

She was handed a maximum sentence of two years and six months.