A female former teacher who had pleaded guilty to maintaining an unlawful sexual relationship with a child now wants her conviction overturned, arguing she cannot be held legally responsible because she is a woman.
Gaye Grant is appealing in the Court of Criminal Appeal for her conviction to be quashed, arguing that the law as written at the time it was legislated only men could be held legally responsible for that crime.
Grant arrived at court in Sydney on Wednesday wearing a black hat, sunglasses, black veil and face mask.
Her lawyer Stephen Boland argued there was legal precedent for a successful appeal against a conviction even when having pleaded guilty, if the appellant could not be legally convicted of the offence.
Mr Boland said while it was open for the court to return Grant’s case to the District Court for a retrial, the preferred course was for the conviction to be simply dismissed.
Gaye Grant arrived at court in Sydney on Wednesday wearing a black hat, sunglasses, black veil and face mask
Paedophile teacher Gaye Grant (pictured) first met the student when he was 10 and he confided in her about being bullied
Grant, who is now aged in her late 70s, was sentenced to jail in December 2022 for the two-year long abuse of one of her male students in the 1970s.
The boy first met Grant when he was 10 and confided in her about being bullied.
The alleged abuse began with the student sitting on Grant’s lap and fondling her, before escalating to kissing and eventually into sexual intercourse.
After the boy tried to distance himself from the teacher in the late 1970s, she wrote to him saying she loved him.
After spending almost 15 months behind bars, Grant was released on bail and given leave to appeal her conviction following the release of another teacher, Helga Lam, who successfully had her historical sex abuse charges quashed in February.
Gaye Grant (pictured), now 77, was sentenced to jail for six years in December 2022 for the two-year long abuse of one of her male students in the 1970s
Ms Lam had been charged with 15 counts of indecent assault on four school boys for offences dating back to 1978.
The NSW Court of Criminal Appeal found Lam had been convicted based on a law in force at the time which did not apply to ‘conduct committed by a female upon a male’.
That law was repealed and replaced in 1984.
A decision in Grant’s appeal has been reserved until a later date.
1800 RESPECT (1800 737 732)
National Sexual Abuse and Redress Support Service 1800 211 028
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