A former drama teacher at a Sydney Catholic boys' school has been jailed after pleading guilty to maintaining an unlawful relationship with a 15-year-old student. Ella Clements, 25, collapsed in shock when she was handcuffed on school grounds during her arrest on September 16, 2025.
Plea deal and charges
Clements, who taught at St Augustine's College in Brookvale, pleaded guilty to the serious charge of maintaining an unlawful relationship with a child. In exchange for her guilty plea, four other charges, which originally included counts of aggravated sexual intercourse with a minor, were dropped by prosecutors.
Following her arrest over a string of incidents involving the teen pupil, Clements was immediately sacked by the school.
School response and discovery
St Augustine's principal Jonathan Byrne told parents the school was fully cooperating with police when the allegations first came to light. He said: "I acknowledge an investigation like this will cause anxiety. Please respect that in this instance we are legally limited in what we can share, and have a primary consideration to protect the safety and wellbeing of the student. The judicial process must be allowed to run its natural course."
The relationship was discovered by the student's family due to a strict household "phones on the table" policy, which led to the discovery of incriminating text messages between Clements and the teenager, Brisbane Times reported.
Clements graduated in 2018 from Brigidine College St Ives, another private Sydney school, where she served as drama captain and was regarded as a standout in maths, according to the Sun.
