Female Melbourne teacher is jailed for sex with male student who she seduced with Call of Duty

Supporters of a young female teacher who sexually abused a student have yelled ‘I love you, you’ll be OK’, as she was jailed for the serious abuse of trust.

The 25-year-old returned before the County Court of Victoria on Tuesday after pleading guilty to grooming a child under 16 for sexual conduct, sexual penetration of a child and possessing child abuse material.

The young woman appeared in court via a videolink wearing an oversized green prison jumper and large clear-frame glasses.

She was seen nervously squeezing a red stress ball as details of the abuse were read to the court.

The court heard she was in her second year of teaching at a school in Melbourne’s southeast in 2021 when she began telling the male student she ‘wanted to become friends outside of school’.

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 that year.

The court heard she picked him up from his parents house and drove to a nearby football oval where she told him she was ‘willing to risk it if he was’.

‘If we get caught I’m going to jail, I’m going to lose my job,’ she said.

The pair began a sexual relationship, exchanging thousands of messages and regularly meeting 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 left them second-guessing their parent ability.

The offending had a ‘devastating toll’ on the family and ‘deprived’ their son of a normal childhood, they said.

The court heard the relationship between the female teacher and boy began through messages on social media and playing video games like Call of Duty together (stock image)

Sentencing the former teacher, Judge Trevor Wraight found her conduct was motivated by ‘sexual desire’ and had taken advantage of her ‘trusted’ position at the school.

‘You were in a position of trust and you groomed the victim in order to engage in sexual conduct,’ he said.

The court heard the young woman had since been diagnosed with major depressive disorder which a psychiatrist found may have impacted her decision making ability.

The psychiatrist found her immaturity and lack of clarity around personal boundaries had left her viewing the victim as an equal, not considering the power imbalance.

She had written a letter to Judge Wraight saying she was deeply sorry for her conduct and the impact it had on her victim.

She was jailed for three years and nine months, with a minimum non-parole period of two years.

When released, the woman will have to comply with sex offender reporting obligations for life.

The teacher was jailed in Melbourne’s County Court of Victoria (pictured) on Tuesday