Australia- A TEACHER says she had sex with a 15-year-old student because she was "utterly vulnerable" and didn't want the boy to feel rejected.
Bridget Mary Nolan, 24, has pleaded guilty to three counts of unlawful sexual intercourse with the boy, who was a student at a country South Australian school where she worked as a music teacher last year.
Nolan, who faces a maximum seven years imprisonment for each of the three charges, yesterday asked not to be sent to jail, saying her "fall from grace" occurred when she was depressed over a break-up with her boyfriend.
"There's more than one victim (here), in what is clearly a sorry tale," Nolan's lawyer Joana Fuller told the SA District Court yesterday.
"These offences occurred not, as is often the case, as a result of a deliberate, premeditated exploitation of a student-teacher relationship.
"(Nolan) was lonely, she was depressed, she was heartbroken.
"She was utterly vulnerable at the time these offences were committed."
The court heard the illicit relationship started with a spontaneous kiss on a bus at a school camp.
Nolan, of Trott Park in suburban Adelaide, later became concerned about the consequences the kiss would have on her career and asked to meet the boy to discuss it. Instead, they had sex after the boy suggested they go into her bedroom, Ms Fuller said.
Ms Fuller said the sex occurred because Nolan did not want the boy to feel rejected and retaliate by telling authorities and cause her to lose her job.
The court also heard yesterday from the boy's mother, who said Nolan's actions had destroyed him.
Nolan will be sentenced in March.
