Heidi Choat

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Heidi Choat (b. circa 1971) is a former Australian primary school teacher who was convicted in August 1999 of maintaining a sexual relationship with one of her students.[1]

Choat was a teacher at a government primary school in central Queensland, where she seduced a 12-year-old boy who was one of her pupils at the school and maintained a sexual relationship with him between August 1998 and February 1999. She had sex with the boy on five occasions during this time, and engaged in a variety of sexual activities with him, including having him lick whipped cream from her breasts and having oral sex with him in his own bedroom during a family event to which she had been invited.[2]

An anonymous tip-off to the State Education Department in September 1998 resulted in an investigation which, at the time, cleared Choat of any wrongdoing, but Choat then continued to engage the boy in sexual activities for another five months.[1] The matter finally came to light in February 1999 when Choat's former boyfriend salvaged from the rubbish love notes which had passed between Choat and the boy, and handed them to police.[1] After the police interviewed Choat, she was charged with five counts of indecently dealing with a boy under 16 years and one count of maintaining a sexual relationship with a boy under 16 years.[3]

The court was told that the offences commenced after the boy, as a visitor to her home in the country town where they both lived, witnessed an argument between Choat and her boyfriend. The boy was distressed by what had happened, and Choat comforted him but also then proceeded to initiate sexual activity with him.[3]

The boy told police, "Ms Choat and me were like boyfriend and girlfriend. I know it was wrong because she's a teacher, but if she wasn't a teacher it would have been all right."[1] He also said that Choat had never forced him to have sex with her, but he sometimes consented because he feared she would become "grumpy" with him.[1] The boy's mother told the court he did not appear to have been affected by the relationship but they were concerned about how he would cope in the future.[3]

Choat pleaded guilty to the charges. She was dismissed by the Queensland Education Department before her case was heard.[3] Defence counsel Peter Godsall told the court Choat had herself been raped at the age of 12 and had suffered abuse in her adult relationships, leaving her impaired in her ability to relate to adult men.[3] She had become seriously infatuated with the boy and herself believed that the relationship with him had been "loving and tender". The judge presiding over her case spoke of the serious breach of trust involved in her actions, and especially noted that her activities continued after the initial investigation; and he was very concerned about the likely ongoing impact of her activities upon the boy’s future normal sexual development. However, he did also observe that "[i]t was not sex… but love, or what [she] thought was love" which had impelled Choat to act as she had, suggesting that she was not in the worst category of offenders.[4]

Choat was sentenced to two years in prison, with a minimum period to be served of nine months.[1]

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ a b c d e f Matthew Hart, "Teacher seduced boy", Adelaide Advertiser, August 21, 1999
  2. ^ Deborah Hope & Tracy Ong, "Hey, teacher, leave those kids alone", The Australian, December 17, 2005
  3. ^ a b c d e Kevin Meade, "Teacher, 27, jailed for sex with boy, 12", The Australian, August 21, 1999
  4. ^ Matthew Hart, "Primary teacher jailed for seducing 12-year-old boy", The Courier-Mail, August 21, 1999, p. 4

[edit] References

[edit] Print

  • Hart, Matthew, "Primary teacher jailed for seducing 12-year-old boy", The Courier-Mail, August 21, 1999, pp. 1, 4.
  • Hart, Matthew, "Teacher seduced boy', Adelaide Advertiser, August 21, 1999
  • Hope, Deborah & Ong, Tracy, "Hey, teacher, leave those kids alone", The Australian, December 17, 2005
  • Meade, Kevin, "Teacher, 27, jailed for sex with boy, 12", The Australian, August 21, 1999
  • Munro, Ian, "The harm when women prey on boys", The Age, March 18, 2006

[edit] Online

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