A special education teacher who groomed and engaged in sexual activity with a 15-year-old boy has been sentenced to three years and three months in prison. Karly Rae, 37, was arrested in October 2024 at her home in Merewether, located in the New South Wales Hunter region, after she had sex with the teenager from her school.
The schoolboy, who does not require special needs support, was taught in a different department from the one where Rae worked. Rae pleaded guilty to four offences, including having sexual intercourse with a child aged between 14 and 16, and grooming a child for unlawful sexual activity. She also admitted to possessing child abuse material and committing an act with the intention of perverting the course of justice.
On Friday, Judge Peter Marr sentenced her to a maximum term of three years and three months in prison, with a non-parole period of two years, as reported by ABC News. During the sentencing at Newcastle District Court, Rae was seen crying and attempting to speak. Someone in the public gallery was heard saying, 'Don't do this, please.'
A victim impact statement was read to the court, in which the boy stated that whenever he hears the word 'schoolteacher,' he recalls what happened to him. 'Every time I drive past the school I think about it,' the statement, read on the victim's behalf, said. The court was told he felt as though he had disappointed his family.
During proceedings, the court heard that Rae spoke to the victim several times before asking him to join an encrypted messaging application in 2024. She then brought him to a sportsground where they had sexual intercourse, the court was told. In text messages presented to the court, Rae messaged the teenager that it was her 'fault' and that she took 'full responsibility.'
Judge Marr noted in court that he did not believe Rae would reoffend and was satisfied by an expert's report that she experienced mania at the time of the offences. However, he told the court he had yet to be convinced that Rae had displayed genuine remorse, adding that she had completed a child protection course and first met the victim at the school where she worked. 'I'm satisfied no sentence other than imprisonment can be the only sentence in relation to this matter,' he said.
