An Australian high school teacher has reportedly confessed that she sexually assaulted a teenage boy on numerous occasions in the area around Newcastle, New South Wales.
New mother Karly Rae admitted to the charges after pleading guilty to four charges yesterday at the Newcastle District Court. Her lawyer, Mark Ramsland, requested that her matter be regarded as a priority since she had brought her eight-week-old baby to court. The 37-year-old had formerly denied liability for four charges laid against her back in May.
Rae made these admissions after being charged with sex-related activities. She had sex with a 15-year-old boy back in October of 2024. Rae was also arrested for possessing materials that fall under child abuse, for grooming a child for illegal sexual conduct, and for engaging in something that interferes with the judicial process. These activities occurred in or around Belmont, Merewether, and Bolton Point.
According to court papers, Rae communicated with the boy through social media. In June, Rae was allowed bail by the Supreme Court after claiming that she was pregnant. She had a previous bail petition that was rejected.
The agreed facts read to the courtroom on Thursday included communications that Rae was having with the juvenile at the time of the crime, sent via Snapchat or Instagram.
In a text message, Rae wrote: “Hey, sorry for removing you on Snap. I found it too tempting for now.” Then, a short message after, the teenager sent: “Should we remove each other now?” Rae responded, “It’s my fault. I take full responsibility. Do what you want/need.” Then Rae sent another text message that indicated a possible last meeting: “Maybe we could have one last rendezvous before school goes back. I’ll bring my toy.”
Under the agreed facts, the boy’s cousin had spotted communications between the boy and Rae on the photo-sharing website Instagram, which his parents reported to the police. According to legal documents, Rae, who was arrested by the police, did not know the boy’s age, since she said, “I thought he was of age… and leaving school.”
Rae is scheduled to go to trial next August, but these dates have now been scrapped. Sentencing is listed for two and a half hours on March 25. The judge had ordered a report for a sentencing assessment to be done before this. Mr. Ramsland indicated that there would be a lot of subjective material in the defence.
The police facts also included a transcript for professional learning from the NSW Department of Education, which showed that Rae had undertaken Child Protection training in February 2024. Rae is currently on bail awaiting sentencing.
