A female teacher crossed the line by engaging in an inappropriate relationship with a student for over two years while the young girl was still attending the school.
The Queensland Civil and Administrative Tribunal heard that when the student was in year 12, the teacher broke up with her long-term fiance to pursue the relationship.
It is believed that the woman, who cannot be named for legal reasons, began a sexual relationship with the former pupil soon after the girl completed year 12 and they moved in together.
The teacher, now 27, is now not allowed to reapply for registration or permission to teach until May 17, 2022.
A vulnerable female student was found in an inappropriate relationship with her female teacher for over two years while the student was still at school (stock image)
The tribunal heard that the teacher was in her early 20s, and the student was only 15 when their relationship began, the Courier Mail reported.
It is believed that the ‘needy’ student was under the care of Child Safety and living with a foster parent at the time.
It is alleged that the teacher and girl were involved in personal conversations as the teacher was her pastoral care advisor.
Although she denied having a sexual relationship with the teenager, the tribunal found that she was interested sexually in the ex-student when she was in her final years of school.
It was found that the teacher would go out of her way to flirt with the student, and the pair shared an intimacy unlike a normal student-teacher relationship.
The pair had plans to move in together from mid-2016, when the student was still in school.
The student told her child safety officer that she had was thinking of moving in with the Queensland teacher’s parents after graduation.
Although the teacher had warnings from colleagues not to build a relationship with the vulnerable student, the teacher crossed appropriate boundaries by discussing personal matters and exchanging gifts with the student.
‘The teacher favoured a student in whom she had a sexual interest,’ the tribunal said.
It was the teacher’s duty to protect the student due to her troubled past, yet the tribunal said that the teacher exploited her vulnerabilities to form an intimate relationship.
When the pair went on a school camp in 2015, they requested to share a room, but was refused permission.
The Queensland Civil and Administrative Tribunal (pictured) heard that when the student was in year 12, the teacher broke up with her long-term male fiance to pursue the relationship
Concerns began to rise among colleagues, as the teacher and student began to spend lots of time together.
Plans came to fruition in late 2016, when the student and teacher moved into the teacher’s parents’ home.
Months after moving in together, in February of 2017, the teacher introduced the former student as her partner.
Just a month later, the 27-year-old told friends that she would now be identifying as a lesbian and the teenager was her partner.
The teacher denied the relationship, but the tribunal found evidence that a romantic and sexual relationship had developed after they began to live together.
At the teacher’s tribunal on July 16, she was banned from reapplying for registration or permission to teach before May 2022.
If she wishes to apply before this date, the teacher must obtain a psychologist’s report that says she is aware of differences between personal and professional relationships and boundaries.
The 27-year-old teacher was also ordered to pay Queensland College of Teachers’s $2500 costs.