Full jail term is ‘only appropriate’ sentence for ex-teacher who slept with student, prosecutor says

A FORMER teacher, who slept with a 17-year-old student on numerous occasions, bombarded him with text messages after the relationship ended.

A PREGNANT woman should receive a full-time jail term for having sex with a teenage student when she taught at a prestigious Sydney school, a court has heard.

Prosecutor Lara Gallagher submitted that the woman’s pregnancy, the birth of her child and any specialised needs the baby may require after birth can be well handled in custody.

The 34-year-old woman has pleaded guilty to five counts of sexual intercourse with a person under her care over three months in 2016 when she worked at Sydney Grammar School.

The woman, who met up with the 17-year-old victim at her home, a classroom and a school storage cupboard, previously told the NSW District Court she thought they were involved in a “very mutual love affair”.

At the ex-teacher’s resumed sentence hearing on Monday, Ms Gallagher said information from Justice Health indicated the pregnancy and birth can be well handled in a custodial setting.

Indeed, the mother’s and child’s needs could be handled just as well in jail as they could be in a non-custodial setting, she said.

But the ex-teacher’s barrister David McCallum said while Justice Health may very well have that aim, the Crown’s submission was “somewhat ambitious”.

“It is simply not correct that Your Honour should not, therefore, take into account the circumstances of the offender’s pregnancy,” he told Judge Paul Lakatos.

Sydney Grammar School, where the woman used to teach.

Matters including the fact of her pregnancy together with new information that the child “has some condition that will require some kind of corrective treatment” at birth made it an exceptional case, he said.

Alternatively, he submitted that the case involved “special circumstances” which would allow the judge to significantly vary the standard ratio between any jail term and the non-parole period.

The Crown has submitted that the only appropriate sentence is full-time custody. The court previously heard the then-teacher bombarded the student with text messages for months after he ended their sexual relationship, apologising, professing her love and referring to herself as a “f***ing monster”. She sent one text message on behalf of her dog, who “would like to say hello and ask how you are”.

“He knows it’s over between us, but he still cares about you. He hopes you won’t stay angry too long and that maybe we can talk before school goes back,” the message read.

She had already been the subject of several complaints and had been reprimanded over her conduct with other male students.

She will be sentenced on February 2.