Karen Louise Ellis

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Karen Louise Ellis (born c.1967) is a former Australian high school teacher who was convicted of having unlawful sexual intercourse with a student at her school, Macleod College in the northern suburbs of Melbourne.

Ellis engaged in a sexual relationship with a 15-year-old student during October and November 2003, during which time she worked as a physical education teacher. The relationship began with them kissing during secret meetings on the school premises, and progressed to a series of meetings at her home during which sexual intercourse and other sexual activity took place. Ellis was married and the mother of three children, and several of the meetings took place in the bed which she shared with her husband.

The boy's mother found a large number of text messages between her son and Ellis on her son's mobile phone and reported the matter to police.

Ellis appeared in Melbourne Magistrates' Court on August 17, 2004, and pleaded guilty to six charges of sexual penetration of a child under 16 years. The victim, Benjamin Dunbar, spoke strongly in her defence, stating that he knew at all times what he was doing and that he was willing to participate in the sexual activity with Ellis. The court could only take limited account of these statements, however, because of the boy's age and the professional status of Ellis's relationship with him. The law as applied to this case takes the view that a child younger than 16 is not able to meaningfully consent to a sexual relationship with an adult, particularly if the adult holds a position of authority over the child, as applied in Ellis' case.

Following the initial court appearance, "Benjamin" appeared on a commercial television prime-time current affairs show to give his own view of the case.

He told the interviewer,

"Every one at the school thought she was a bit of all right, and so did I, I suppose. I found her attractive... so when you find someone attractive you go after them".

He also said that he had pursued her and reassured her when she had expressed doubts. He claimed to have been unaffected by his relationship with Ellis, suggesting that "in years to come I'll probably have a laugh at it." The television station which aired the programme had initially planned to identify the boy during the broadcast, at his own request, but in the end decided not to do so, although his face had earlier been shown in promotional clips for the programme.

On November 11, 2004, Ellis appeared for sentencing in the Victorian County Court, and was given a 22-month prison sentence, wholly suspended. Her name was added to the sex offender register, despite the court's view that she was very unlikely to re-offend, and she was prohibited from ever resuming her teaching career.

However, there was significant community concern about the fact that she would serve no actual prison time, and a prosecution lodged an appeal against the sentence. On May 5, 2005, Ellis appeared in the Victorian County Court of Appeal and she was re-sentenced to 2 years and 8 months in prison, with a minimum of 6 months to be served. The appeal court ruling found that Ellis had been treated less severely than would have been the case had she been a male offender, and reiterated the principle of equality in such cases. The presiding judge, Justice Frank Callaway, spoke of "equality of concern for male and female victims and equality in the sentencing of male and female offenders", and went on to say that it was "no longer acceptable that an offender be given a different sentence solely because of his or her sex".

A High Court of Australia application for special leave to appeal to the High Court was rejected on September 9, 2005. Ellis was released from prison in October 2005. She and her former lover appeared on the Nine Network's 60 Minutes program at the end of 2005, with Karen Ellis being castigated by reporter Liz Hayes, who implied in her line of questioning that she is a pedophile. While the boy maintains he is still suffering no ill-effects from the relationship, defenders of the charges against Ellis claim that the damage from the affair can still manifest itself many years later.

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