A female teacher at a Melbourne public school has been sentenced to two-and-a-half years for sexually abusing a 16-year-old student.
Azar Rahmatzadeh, 44, from Melbourne's Wantirna College, learned her fate on Friday after she was charged with sexual penetration of a child under 16, sexual assault and one charge of supplying liquor to a minor in May last year.
Rahmatzadeh Started Flirting with Teen on Snapchat Before Inviting Him Home
Rahmatzadeh began talking to her 14-year-old student on Snapchat over the summer holidays. The educator enjoyed the boy's attention and invited him to her house for a drink.
After picking him up from the train station in her car, she told him to keep a low profile and to hide as they drove to her home. She also allowed the boy to help himself to alcohol once they arrived. Rahmatzadeh then sat on his lap, kissed him and had sex with the boy in her bedroom.
Text Messages Exchanged Between Rahmatzadeh and the Teenager
In the weeks following, Rahmatzadeh send the boy a number of messages on social media, calling him "handsome" and her "fave" student.
"F***ing love your guts forever. I'm truly sorry if I hurt you," she wrote.
In another Facebook message, Rahmatzadeh allegedly complained that the student deleted her from the social media app.
"I wasn't mad and it didn't mean I didn't like you or didn't want to talk to you or see you anymore, I also noticed that day that you removed me as a friend on Facebook," the message from the teacher allegedly said.
In another text message, she wrote "I'm just stupid sometimes, I don't think and make stupid decisions (I'll stop drinking!!) but please know I still think the world of you and hope reading this makes you hate me less and one day, in time, we can be mates again."
Victim Told His Mother After Video Started Circulating Around School
The boy didn't tell his mum what happened for months, until he became scared a video being shared around the school could become public. The boy said he has since been subjected to schoolyard ridicule, derision and had lost friends after the video emerged.
When she was interviewed by police, Rahmatzadeh blamed the boy. She later pleaded guilty to sexual penetration of a child under 16. "He's very young, a child. I wasn't thinking about a number which is absolutely horrific," she said.
County Court Judge Anne Hassan said Rahmatzadeh, then-aged 44, had multiple chances to reflect and avoid the "disastrous consequences" her offending had on the boy.
It involved a gross breach of trust and her messages before the offending were imbued with sexual overtones, the judge said. "You were an experienced teacher, who knew that what you were doing was wrong."
Rahmatzadeh will be eligible for parole after serving just one year. She will also be registered as a sex offender for 15 years.
