Female Melbourne teacher is jailed for sex with male student who she seduced with Call of Duty
How female teacher, 25, seduced a teenage boy by playing Call of Duty with him and bombarding him with thousands of texts – while imprisoned for screaming ‘I love you’
- Female teacher gets at least two years in prison
- Groomed and sexually abused student
- The court heard the impact on the boy and his family
Supporters of a young female teacher who sexually assaulted a student shouted “I love you, you’ll be fine” as she was jailed for serious breach of trust.
The 25-year-old returned to Victoria County Court on Tuesday after pleading guilty to caring for a child under 16 for sexual conduct, sexual penetration of a child and possession of child abuse material.
The young woman appeared in court via video link wearing an oversized green prison sweater and large, see-through glasses.
She was seen nervously squeezing a red stress ball as the details of the abuse were read to the court.
The court heard she was in her second year of teaching at a south-east Melbourne school in 2021 when she began telling the male student that she wanted to “be friends outside of school.”
A young female teacher who sexually assaulted a student has been convicted (stock image)
Over a few months, they began exchanging messages on social media and playing video games like Call of Duty together before she told him she loved him in July of that year.
The court heard she picked him up at his parents’ house and drove to a nearby soccer oval, where she told him she was “willing to risk it if he was.”
“If we get caught, I’ll go to jail and lose my job,” she said.
The pair began a sexual relationship, exchanging thousands of messages and meeting regularly before her victim’s parents discovered explicit text messages in November.
In a victim impact statement provided to the court, they said her actions had “tarnished” their relationship with their son and made them question their parents’ abilities.
The crime took a “devastating toll” on the family and “robbed” their son of a normal childhood, they said.
The court heard that the relationship between the female teacher and boy began through social media posts and playing video games like Call of Duty together (stock image)
In sentencing the former teacher, Judge Trevor Wraight found that her behavior was motivated by “sexual desire” and abused her “trusted” position at the school.
“You were in a position of trust and you groomed the victim to engage in sexual conduct,” he said.
The court heard that the young woman had since been diagnosed with a major depressive disorder, which a psychiatrist found may have affected her ability to make decisions.
The psychiatrist found that her immaturity and lack of clarity about personal boundaries had led her to view the victim as an equal without regard for the power imbalance.
She had written a letter to Judge Wraight saying she was deeply sorry for her behavior and the impact it had on her victim.
She received three years and nine months in prison, with a minimum non-parole period of two years.
Upon release, the woman will have to comply with the reporting obligation for sex offenders for life.
The teacher was jailed in Melbourne’s County Court of Victoria on Tuesday (pictured).