Warning: This article discusses details of sexual assault.
An Auckland primary school teacher who sent sexually explicit nude selfies to an 11-year-old student more than 20 years her junior has been sentenced to home detention.
The woman, in her 30s with a family of her own, earlier this year admitted to charges of grooming a young person for sexual conduct and doing an indecent act on a boy under 12.
An interim suppression order prevents her name or identifying details from being published.
The now former teacher was in a senior role when she gained the trust of the boy's parents last year, convincing them the school was to blame for his declining mental health.
But she had been sending graphic nude photographs exposing herself to the boy, had kissed him on the lips and slept in his bed with him.
She appeared for sentencing in North Shore District Court before Judge Paul Murray, who said her offending had a devastating impact on the boy at a formative time of his life.
The public gallery was packed.
"He is burdened with confusion, shame and fear. The emotional toll on the family has been devastating," Judge Murray said.
"Your offending has had wide and devastating impacts."
During the hearing, Crown prosecutor Alysha McClintock told the court the offending was on a "path to something more sexual" and the vulnerability and young age of the boy should be taken into account for sentencing.
The defendant's lawyer, David Jones KC, said the woman was "extremely remorseful' and had taken steps towards rehabilitation.
Judge Murray said the victim impact statements read to the court, on behalf of the boy's parents and the defendant's former husband, made clear the consequences of the woman's offending.
He said the father had noticed "alarming changes" in his son's behaviour and was concerned about his declining mental health.
"He says that you steered them, [the boy's] parents, into blaming the school and encouraged home schooling so you could get more access to [the boy]."
Judge Murray said the boy's mother's heart ached for her son's future.
He said the teacher had been persistent in her pursuit of the boy.
The defendant sat in the dock with her head bowed as victim impact statements from the boy's parents were read to the court, at times wiping tears away.
The boy's mother told the court the woman's actions have caused "profound harm" to her family.
Her statement, read to the court, said her son's trust had been "irreparably damaged", leaving a devastating emotional toll on the family.
She said as parents, she and the boy's father wondered if they "could have somehow protected him from this betrayal".
"My heart aches for my son's future, the scars of this experience will take years if not a lifetime to heal," she said.
"No amount of intervention can undue the trauma on my baby boy."
In his statement read to the court, the boy's father said the teacher's "brutal" actions had affected the family heavily.
He said at the beginning of last year, they started seeing "alarming changes" in their son's actions and his mental health declined.
The father said the teacher assured them she had their boy's back but he now sees she was "manipulating every situation" as a senior teacher to "get more access to our beautiful boy" and that her "predatory actions" and "sick world" had been exposed.
He said she encouraged them to take him out of school so they could home school him.
"All the time she was a self-claimed saviour who would stop at nothing to help our child."
The woman applied for permanent name suppression but the Crown opposed this, saying the boy's family did not want the woman's name kept secret.
Judge Murray lifted name suppression but the defendant's lawyer immediately told the court that would be appealed, meaning she cannot yet be named.
Judge Murray also declined to add her name to the Child Sex Offender's register, due to her being assessed as having a low risk of re-offending.
Court documents reveal the extent of the offending
The teacher began grooming the boy, sending him messages on Instagram, Snapchat and Google Docs, urging him to ask her out - it is unclear when the messaging began.
Police said multiple times, she sent messages with statements such as "If you ask me out, I'll say yes," and "we would make a good a couple."
When the boy asked her out, she led him "to believe they were boyfriend and girlfriend".
The teacher then told the boy she loved him - both were deleting these messages as they were sent.
They were at the same school, though the boy was not in her class.
Her pursuit of the boy progressed when they were "dating" and for almost a month from mid August last year, she met with him "unsupervised" a number of times.
She would take him for walks in a park, grab his hand and hold it while they walked.
On one occasion, she took him to her parents' house and they played some darts before "going into the lounge and wrestling each other", police said.
While wrestling, the teacher "grabbed [him] with her hands and kissed him on the lips".
During this time, the teacher also sent multiple graphic nude photos of herself to the boy using Snapchat.
Every time, the woman would tell the student "don't tell anyone, this is just for you", police said.
Police said one night in September last year, the teacher slept in the boy's bed.
After her arrest, the teacher declined to speak to police.
The woman's sentencing had been set down for May but was adjourned till September, then delayed till October.
Where to get help:
Need to Talk? Free call or text 1737 any time to speak to a trained counsellor, for any reason
- Lifeline: 0800 543 354 or text HELP to 4357
- Suicide Crisis Helpline: 0508 828 865 / 0508 TAUTOKO. This is a service for people who may be thinking about suicide, or those who are concerned about family or friends
- Depression Helpline: 0800 111 757 or text 4202
- Samaritans: 0800 726 666
- Youthline: 0800 376 633 or text 234 or email talk@youthline.co.nz
- What's Up: 0800 WHATSUP / 0800 9428 787. This is free counselling for 5 to 19-year-olds
- Asian Family Services: 0800 862 342 or text 832. Languages spoken: Mandarin, Cantonese, Korean, Vietnamese, Thai, Japanese, Hindi, and English.
- Rural Support Trust Helpline: 0800 787 254
- Healthline: 0800 611 116
- Rainbow Youth: (09) 376 4155
- OUTLine: 0800 688 5463
- Aoake te Rā bereaved by suicide service: or call 0800 000 053
If it is an emergency and you feel like you or someone else is at risk, call 111.
Sexual Violence
- NZ Police.
- Victim Support 0800 842 846.
- Rape Crisis: 0800 88 33 00.
- Rape Prevention Education.
- Empowerment Trust.
- HELP (Auckland): 09 623 1700, (Wellington): 04 801 6655.
- Safe to talk: 0800 044 334.
- Tautoko Tāne Male Survivors Aotearoa.
- Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP) 022 344 0496.
