Cindy Leanne Howell

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Cindy Leanne Howell (born about 1970) is a former teacher’s aide from Victoria, Australia, who was convicted in November 2005 of sexually abusing an underage male student at her school.

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[edit] The crime

Howell engaged in an ongoing sexual relationship with a 15-year-old student between February and October 2004. Howell was charged with maintaining a sexual relationship with a child under 16, a charge to which she pleaded guilty and for which she received a prison sentence of five years, with a minimum period to be served of 2½ years.

Howell, a married woman with four children, first met the victim through her daughter, who was his girlfriend at the time. On the first occasion on which he stayed overnight at her home, Howell offered to have oral sex with the boy, and this was followed by a variety of sexual encounters at both her home and his, in a car and even, in a limited way, in a school class context.

During the period of these activities, the boy had tried to end the relationship, but Howell was very persuasive and also provided a variety of expensive gifts as an inducement both for the boy to continue the relationship and to remain silent about it. However, the boy eventually told his school principal what was happening, and Howell was arrested.

[edit] Possible motives

Howell told police that she knew what she was doing was wrong but that she enjoyed the experience and that it made her feel loved. Medical and psychological evaluations indicated that Howell was an alcoholic and suffering from depressed or possibly bipolar disorder.

[edit] Impact

Howell’s case is noteworthy in several respects. In the recent rash of cases involving female school employees acting sexually with students, almost all have involved teachers rather than para-professionals such as Howell. In addition, although Howell knew the student at school, it was initially through the victim’s connection to her daughter that Howell first had opportunity to offend against him. Further, the length of time over which the offences were committed was unusually long, being the larger part of an entire school year.

Howell’s case, together with those of Sarah Jayne Vercoe and Karen Louise Ellis which were also heard in 2005, marked a turning point in Australian courts dealing with female sex offenders, in that significant prison sentences were imposed in each case. The case attracted national interest and was reported in interstate news sources.

[edit] References