Australia High-School Teacher Admits Repeated Sex With 15-Year-Old Student

An Australian high-school teacher has admitted to having sex with an underage student multiple times and attempting to persuade him to lie to authorities. Karly Rae, 37, appeared in court on Thursday with her eight-week-old newborn to plead guilty to child sex offences, ABC reported.

She pleaded guilty to sexually abusing a teenage boy, possessing child abuse material, grooming a child for unlawful sexual activity, and committing an act with the intention of perverting the course of justice. Sentencing is scheduled for March.

Rae told the court she had sexual encounters with the 15-year-old in October 2024, the same month she was first arrested. These incidents occurred at various locations in Newcastle, New South Wales, where she was employed.

The teacher reportedly groomed her victim through explicit messages on Snapchat and Instagram. “Maybe we could have one last rendezvous before school goes back. I'll bring my toy,” she wrote to the boy, according to ABC. On another occasion, Rae said it was “too tempting” to contact him and apologised for removing him from her contacts.

Responding to the student's message suggesting they delete each other from the app, she wrote, “It's my fault. I take full responsibility. Do what you want/need.”

Out on bail, Rae allegedly called the student several times in an effort to get him to provide false testimony in court. “In the course of those calls, it's alleged [she] sought to persuade the complainant to give a false version of events,” Justice Hament Dhanji said during a June bail hearing, as per 7News. The teenager told his mother about the calls, and a cousin who had seen some of the social media messages alerted his family.

Rae was granted bail again in June because she was pregnant. Initially set to face trial in August 2026 after pleading not guilty, she switched her plea to guilty last week. Her lawyer, Mark Ramsland, requested that the matter be prioritised due to Rae attending court with her eight-week-old baby, ABC reported.

Rae claimed she was unaware the student was underage, despite him being enrolled at her school. Following her admission, she lost her teaching job and was ordered by the court not to be alone with anyone under 16.