A high school teacher has been sentenced to six months behind bars after having sex with and sexually touching two teenage students. Tayla Lee Brailey cried as the jail term was handed down for abusing the two boys.
Court hears of mental health struggles
The court heard how the 32-year-old had sex with one teenage student and sexually touched another while she was suffering with mental health struggles. Brailey said she was in the midst of a bipolar manic episode when she felt an “irresistible impulse” to engage in sexual contact with the boys, telling the court she could not control herself.
Justice Elizabeth Ryan, who presided over the case, said that while she accepted the behaviour was impulsive, the teacher still had chances to stop herself as she "could have reflected on the wrongness of what she was proposing to do."
Details of the offences
The court was told how Brailey had sex with a 17-year-old boy in the back seat of his car and kissed and fondled another 16-year-old boy in a classroom in July 2023. It is claimed she also exchanged sexually explicit material with the younger victim.
The teacher, who has now been sacked, was arrested in August 2024 and charged with a number of offences relating to the sexual behaviour towards the two boys. She eventually pleaded guilty to a charge of sexual intercourse with someone 17 years old under special care, one count of sexual touching of a 16-year-old, and two counts of using a carriage service to solicit or transmit child abuse material.
Sentencing and impact
Justice Ryan added: "It is also relevant that she knew what she was doing was wrong but persisted with it. She took steps to conceal her offending."
Judges admitted the defendant was remorseful and unlikely to reoffend, but said her behaviour had caused harm to the victims, one of whom mistakenly blamed himself for what happened to him. The judge also said parents, families and the community "must have confidence that when they send their kids to school, teachers would not betray their positions of trust."
Brailey was sentenced to nine months jail for having sex with the 17-year-old and 12 months for the charge relating to the 16-year-old, with an aggregate term of 15 months imposed. She hugged her family when she was sent down and will be eligible for parole in 2027.
