Former teacher Monique Ooms ‘fell in love’ with student before pair had sex

A former Sale Secondary College teacher has told a court she does not deserve to be jailed for sleeping with a student after she fell in love with him.

A suspended Sale Secondary College teacher says she does not deserve jail for falling in love with a student and having sex with him.

Monique Ooms, 31, fronted the Latrobe Valley County Court in Morwell on Wednesday where she admitted four acts of sexual penetration with the teenage boy between July 1 and August 8 last year.

Those acts involved kissing, touching and having sex in the backseat of her car, which she would drive to remote locations after picking the teen up when he snuck out from his home.

She also had him over at her house.

Prosecutor Andrew Moore told the court Ooms’ crimes, which carry a maximum penalty of 10 years, involved “a significant breach of trust” on a vulnerable child.

But her lawyer Katherine Rolfe submitted a community-based order would be suitable punishment, saying her client had the extra-curial punishment of losing her teaching career and the “public shame” that has come with media attention of her case.

Suspended teacher Monique Ooms says she does not deserve jail for falling in love with a student and having sex with him.

She will also have to report on the sex offender register for life, Ms Rolfe said, adding that she had no criminal history and was of previous good character.

The court heard the student-teacher relationship became more personal when Ooms was trying to help him through a difficult time.

They exchanged Instagram details to communicate outside of school hours, with Ooms later giving him her mobile number.

Messages revealed the Toorak College girls’ school graduate had sent him photos in her underwear, and that they repeatedly said they missed and loved each other.

The inappropriate relationship was exposed when the school received two anonymous letters in August stating she was having a sexual relationship with a student.

But when police questioned the student, he denied the allegations and said they were “just friends”.

He then called Ooms to warn her, giving her time to delete their messages.

Investigators were able to retrieve most of them.

Sale Secondary College teacher Monique Ooms, 31, has pleaded guilty in the County Court to four counts of sexual penetration with a male student.

Ooms, who now works as a bricklayer after being stripped of her teaching registration, pleaded guilty to four counts of sexual penetration of a child under her supervision and care.

It was Ooms first year at the college, having been transferred from Sandringham Secondary College.

She taught a range of subjects at the Sale school to students from Year 7 to Year 12.

The court heard the teen considered Ooms a friend who had “treated him well”, did not want to get her in trouble and was “worried for her”.

He had “moved on” and did not want to be part of the court proceedings.

But his mother, in a victim impact statement read out in court, detailed her “complete shock” when she found out, followed by the guilt for not protecting her son.

She questioned “what sort of mother is oblivious” to the fact their son is out and not tucked in safely in his bed.

“My main concern was my son,” she said. “How were we going to get through this? And how was all of this even possible in the first place?”

Judge John Smallwood ordered Ooms be assessed for a community correction order, before he will sentence her on Friday.

Originally published as Former teacher Monique Ooms ‘fell in love’ with student before pair had sex