Sarah Jayne Vercoe

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Sarah Jayne Vercoe (née Prior) (b. circa 1980) is a former Australian high school science teacher who was convicted in September 2005 of having sexual relations with underage boys and with students in her care.

Contents

[edit] Education and career

Sarah Vercoe
Sarah Vercoe

Sarah Prior graduated with a Bachelor of Science from Flinders University in South Australia, and moved to Hobart, Tasmania to be with her then boyfriend. She completed a Bachelor of Teaching with Honours at the University of Tasmania, graduating on December 16, 2003.

She was appointed as a science teacher to the staff of Rose Bay High School in suburban Hobart, commencing in February 2004; in the meantime, she had married and commenced her short-lived teaching career under her married name.

At Rose Bay Vercoe taught science and mathematics, served as a Year 7 pastoral care teacher and coached the successful Year 7 girls' netball team.

[edit] Criminal offences

Vercoe's marriage was, however, under stress, and within months she was seeking other sexual encounters. According to evidence presented in court, she commenced a relationship with a 15-year-old male student from her school after supervising him on a school camp late in 2004. Following the camp she engaged the boy in conversation at every opportunity and gave him rides home in her car. At one point the boy, as a joke, entered his mobile phone number into her phone, and Vercoe later used the number to call him. A series of text messages and phone calls then passed between Vercoe and the boy, until she took the opportunity of her husband's absence in December 2004 to invite the boy to her home.

Vercoe assisted the boy with creating a story to convince his mother to let him stay away from home overnight. Vercoe and the boy had sexual intercourse that night, as well as on several subsequent visits to her home, including times when her husband was absent at work. This relationship lasted for several weeks, but ended when the boy became convinced that it was wrong. According to the evidence, Vercoe later wrote a letter to the boy to convince him not to tell anyone about their activities, and saying that if they both told the same false version of events "it will be fine". This letter was later circulated among students at the school and, after being confronted by his girlfriend, the boy made a statement to police.

Not satisfied with this relationship with one student, Vercoe some weeks later engaged in improper sexual conduct with several other male students. Taking four boys, aged 14, 15 and two of 16 years, to a party from an evening basketball match in April 2005, she bought fast food and alcohol, took them to her home and engaged in a variety of sexual misdemeanours. Following these offenses, she again attempted to threaten and persuade the boys not to reveal what had occurred.

[edit] Arrest and court appearance

Sarah Vercoe was arrested in May 2005 and several charges were laid immediately, with others following as police extended their investigations.

At her court appearance in September 2005, Vercoe pleaded guilty to 11 charges of having sexual intercourse with a person under the age of 17, and three charges of indecent assault. In passing sentence, Supreme Court of Tasmania Judge Shan Tennent described her as a "predator" and said that her crimes involved a massive breach of trust.

In passing sentence, Justice Tennet said to Vercoe,

"The facts clearly demonstrate that not only did you initiate the sexual contact with each boy, but you also actively pursued it. It is hard to understand how a person such as you who is, on the surface, clever, bright and attractive, could have exercised so little even common sense and act as you did."

In mitigation, defence lawyers made reference to Vercoe's marriage problems, indicating that she had felt "ostracised in a broken-down relationship", and that the boys involved had not been "wholly unwilling". However, prosecutors pointed out that some of the boys had been hesitant, and that Vercoe had attempted to discourage the boys from reporting the activities, suggesting to one that he should lie and saying to another of those involved, "I hope you haven't blabbed"; she threatened some of the boys with harm if they revealed her activities.

[edit] Outcome and analysis

Vercoe was sentenced to serve four years in prison, with 18 months of the sentence being suspended and a minimum period of two years. Under Tasmanian law she will be ineligible to resume her teaching career upon her release, and under co-operative arrangements between Australian states it is unlikely that she will be able to teach anywhere in the country.

Parents of two of the victims appeared on ABC television following Vercoe's imprisonment, to speak of the impact of her crimes upon the lives of their sons. It was made clear that, as one of the parents said, "[i]t's not every boy's fantasy to have sex with his teacher" and that the boys involved had not been willing participants. This case and others like it are likely to help dispel the myth that many boys would want to be involved in such an encounter.

Vercoe's case is one of a number of cases emerging since 2004 involving female teachers in Australia dealing sexually with their students, and reflects a similar spate of such cases in North America and the West generally. It is especially significant in that, together with the case of Karen Louise Ellis, it marked a trend towards treating female offenders similarly to male offenders in such cases. Whether this trend will be sustained in Australian jurisdictions is however called into question by the non-custodial sentence handed down in the 2006 case of Bridget Mary Nolan.

This case impacted on Tasmanian politics when, upon news of Vercoe's arrest in May 2005, the state Education Minister called for the adoption of a code of ethics for the state's teachers. The resulting Code of Professional Ethics for the Teaching Profession in Tasmania was released and applied to the profession at the end of February 2006.

[edit] References

[edit] Print

  • The Australian, 20 May 2005, p. 4.
  • The Australian, 9 September 2005.
  • The Mercury, 9 September 2005.

[edit] Online

Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org../../../s/a/r/Sarah_Jayne_Vercoe_5227.html"
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