Aust teacher jailed for sex with pupil

An Adelaide teacher who admitted having a sexual relationship with a pupil has been jailed for more than two years.

Sonia Mackay, 43, faced the District Court for sentence on Wednesday after pleading guilty to the persistent sexual exploitation of a 17-year-old boy.

In sentencing, Judge Liesl Chapman said Mackay struck up a sexual relationship with a pupil in her English class.

Over the course of a month, the pair also drank alcohol and smoked cigarettes and cannabis together, and Mackay bought the boy presents and a nose piercing.

The boy's parents became suspicious and approached the school principal, who reported the matter to police.

When confronted by his mother, the victim admitted the sexual relationship and said he was in love with Mackay.

Judge Chapman said it was clear Mackay's crimes had devastated the victim and his family.

"Your behaviour was manipulative and unforgivable," she told Mackay.

"You seem to have lost touch with reality and were living in some sort of fantasy land."

Judge Chapman sentenced Mackay to four years, five months in jail with a non-parole period of two years, one month.

She will be eligible for parole in early 2021.

Comments

if it was a man he would have got more/

'Lost touch with reality' sounds like a failed defence case of diminished responsibility. Male offenders pull this plea, of 'depression' in some cases.