More than 10 years jail for New Zealand teacher for abuse of boy

A former primary school teacher was jailed for 10 and a half years on Friday after being found guilty of sexually abusing a young student, local media reported.

The female teacher Stacey Reriti, aged 31, was earlier found guilty of seven sexual assault charges.

The abuse began when the boy was 10 years old and progressed to sexual intercourse in a motel room when he was 12, the New Zealand Herald reported.

Prosecuting lawyer Dale La Hood told the High Court in Wellington that Reriti's offense was aggravated by the boy's vulnerability at a time when one of his parents was extremely unwell.

"The breach of trust in this case is extreme."
Reriti had betrayed her duties as a teacher, a leader and a deputy principal, he said.


At the sentencing, Justice Mark Woolford noted that women could not be charged with rape - due to the way the offence is defined - so Reriti had instead been charged with sexual violation by unlawful sexual connection.

But he said what happened in the motel, could be "colloquially, if not legally, known as rape".