Australian teacher sentenced to 5 1/2 years for sexual misconduct - 19 year old "girlfriend" also considered victim

A former teacher from a small town in Western Australia's south will spend at least five-and-a-half years in jail for having consensual sex with two of his students. Brett Rodney Daley, 34, pleaded guilty [November 5] to having sex with a child aged between 13 and 16, and sex with a girl aged 16 years who were in his care.

District Court Judge Mary Ann Yates on Thursday said Daley had caused life-long trauma and stress to his victims. Daley was a teacher at the town's school, a soccer coach, a mentor and counsellor to many students and was looked up to by many in the community, the court heard.

The court heard Daley had sex with one of his female students in the gymnasium of the local high school in March 2006 and then at various locations around town, late at night, until July 31.
He then took up having sex with another girl on the soccer team, sometimes including his 19-year-old partner, Natasha Charmaine Krispyn, a co-offender in some of the acts.
Judge Yeats said the worst of Daley's actions was the breach of community trust.

It was not Daley but the teenage girls who called off the sexual relationships, she said.
"In the case of both of the complainants, it was not the offender that ceased the offending," she said. Until Krispyn became aware of his conduct, he had also committed the acts behind his partner's back.

But Judge Yeats gave Daley credit for pleading guilty to the eight charges, saying he had saved the two victims the trauma of coming to court. However, he had not entered his plea at the earliest possibly opportunity and this also had been taken into account.

A member of Daley's family began sobbing openly in court when Judge Yeats said she trusted that Daley would enter sex offender treatment both in prison and when on parole.
Judge Yeats also expressed concern that aged only 19 at the time, Krispyn herself could be considered one of his victims.

Krispyn, who now has a one-year-old child to Daley and remains his partner, pleaded guilty to sexual penetration of one of the girls, and received a two-year suspended sentence.
Judge Yeats sentenced Daley to seven-and-a-half years in jail with a minimum non-parole period of five-and-a-half years.
© 2008 AAP