Female teacher who had sexual relations with two underage students in Marlborough sentenced to jail

The woman appeared in Blenheim District Court on December 17.

A female teacher who had sexual relations with two underage students in Marlborough has been sentenced to two-and-a-half-years in prison.

The woman appeared in the Blenheim District Court this afternoon after pleading guilty to nine charges in October. Seven offences related to having a sexual connection with minors and another two for exposing them to indecent material.

Judge Tony Zohrab described her behaviour as “a huge breach of trust”.

He denied her bid for permanent name suppression, but this was immediately appealed and will be put to the courts again in the new year.

Name suppression was opposed by both the victims and their families, the Crown and several media outlets, including TVNZ.

The first victim was only 14 when he first met the teacher. She would text him every day, and eventually their relationship became sexual and lasted about a year. Another 15-year-old boy became involved with the pair in late 2018.

In written victim impact statements, read out by the Crown, one of the boys described feeling “confused and ashamed”, while the other said the teacher “made me worry about her, as when I tried to stop what was happening, she told me she would harm herself.

"This is not fair, she should not have put that burden on me”.

The woman’s lawyers said she made no excuses for what she had done and was there to “face the victims and the community”.

She cried quietly in the dock when part of her written apology was read aloud by lawyer Miriam Radich.

“You were students and I was the teacher. I am deeply sorry I have hurt you… I hope you are able to recover and put this behind you”.

Defence lawyer Jonathan Eaton disagreed with the Crown that the offending was “targeted”, but acknowledged the breach of trust and difference in age between the woman and her victims.

He highlighted the teacher’s longstanding mental health struggles as being a “delicate issue in this case”.

Crown Solicitor Mark O'Donoghue sought a term of imprisonment, saying that “if this was a male, I don’t believe we would be having this discussion … I don’t believe home detention should be an option”.

Mr Eaton argued that “home detention is not a light sentence, it’s a really tough sentence. She would be in a rural community, completely isolated, it would be a very tough sentence for her to carry out but it would allow her to remain united with her family”.

Judge Zohrab factored “previous good character”, community involvement, remorse for her actions and the state of her mental health into his decision.

But in his view, Judge Zohrab said she “seriously compromised” her obligations in her role as a teacher and that “no one should be more attuned to the needs of boys as they’re developing”.

“Effectively there was grooming and premediating over a long period of time because you have formed this relationship, you’ve taken the lead in the relationship, so in my view these are significant aggravating features”.

The woman’s teaching registration has been cancelled and her name will automatically added to the Child Sex Offenders Register.

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